MONMOUTH, Ore. — The Western Oregon men's basketball team earned a berth in the GNAC tournament last week with a 2-0 mark in games and will now finish their regular season on the road before seeking a second straight tournament title. The Wolves visit Western Washington Feb. 28 and Simon Fraser March 2 for their final two regular season matchups. Both games are set to tip at 7 p.m. PST.
 
ABOUT WWU (14-13, 8-9 GNAC): After starting the season 6-1, the Vikings have struggled to find their footing, going 8-12 since the beginning of December. That number was even grimmer before pulling out two wins last week in Alaska, topping Alaska Anchorage 76-66 and UAF 85-75.
 
Despite the struggles, WWU does find themselves in the thick of the postseason race. Currently in a tie for 5th with Simon Fraser, the Vikings and Clan still have three games remaining to play whereas the rest of the conference is down to their final two games. Holding a 0.5 game lead over both Alaska Anchorage and MSUB, WWU controls their own fate when it comes to a berth in the GNAC tourney.
 
The Vikings boast the second-best scoring offense in the conference, averaging 81.9 points per game through 27 contests. They hold the GNAC's top spots as a team in free throw percentage (77.4), blocked shots (4.5) and offensive rebounds (12.0).
 
Junior Trevor Jasinsky averages 19.7 points per game, trailing only NNU's Adonis Arms for the GNAC's highest scoring total. He is also pulling down a team-high 6.9 rebounds a night.

WOU vs. WWU: WOU is 13-26 against WWU since 2001. The Wolves have won two straight, but the Vikings took four in a row before that. WOU is 3-15 on the road in the series.

ABOUT SFU (14-11, 8-9 GNAC): In the same scenario as the Vikings, Simon Fraser holds their fate in their hands in regards to the conference tournament. With three games left to play, including a meeting with WWU, the Clan are in the driver's seat for a postseason spot.
 
Winners of five of their last six games, SFU has overcome a 1-6 start to conference play to scratch within a game of .500 in the GNAC.
 
Relying on a solid 3-point shooting game, SFU is 39.0 percent from deep to lead the conference.
 
The Clan have three of the top 15 scorers with Julian Roche leading the way with a 14.2 points per game average. He also leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game and a 56.6 percent field goal mark.

WOU vs. SFU: WOU is 16-1 against SFU since 2011. The Wolves have won three straight with their only loss to the Clan coming Feb. 11, 2017 in Burnaby. WOU is 7-1 on the road in the series.

ABOUT WESTERN OREGON (19-8, 12-6 GNAC): Rebounding from their first 0-2 week in two years, the Wolves got back on track with an 81-66 win over Northwest Nazarene and a 77-62 win over Central Washington at home. The wins closed out their home schedule for the season, finishing 13-1 inside NPE Gym. With two games left to play in the regular season, the Wolves have locked up a spot in the GNAC tournament for the 6th consecutive season.
 
Facing the top two offenses in the conference last week who were both averaging over 80 points per game, the Wolves' defense held NNU and CWU to 66 and 62 points, respectively.
 
WOU took a 50-23 lead into halftime Thursday against NNU. Riley Hawken scored 18 in the first half, finishing the game with 20 points and six rebounds over 37 minutes of work.
 
Saturday night marked senior night in Monmouth. All four seniors got the start and finished with at least eight points. Brandell Evans came two shy of matching his career high in scoring, dropping 15 points along with four rebounds and five assists in his final game at NPE Gym.

NATIONAL RANKS: The Wolves are currently 7th in TO margin (+5.7), 18th in scoring margin (+12.9) and 11th in scoring defense (65.6 ppg) in NCAA DII. Individually, Riley Hawken is 29th in the country with 56 total steals.

GNAC RANKS: In the conference, the Wolves rank 1st in scoring defense (65.6 ppg), scoring margin (+12.9), steals per game (8.2), assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and turnover margin (+5.7).

CONFERENCE TOURNEY APPEARANCES: The Wolves have appeared in six consecutive GNAC tournaments dating back to the 2013-14 season.
 
BREAK 80: A Western Oregon opponent has not scored 80 or more points since Jan. 5 when they beat UAF 97-80 and no more than 70 over their last five games. The most points allowed by the Wolves this season was 88 to WWU Dec. 1 in three overtimes.
 
BRUSHIER SCORING: Junior Dalven Brushier has finished in double figures in scoring in 10 of the last 14 games. This includes his season-high 22-point performance against Alaska Fairbanks at home.
 
OLD 97's: WOU's 97 points Feb. 9 against MSUB ties for their season-high in scoring against a conference opponent with their 97-80 win at Alaska Fairbanks Jan. 5. They have scored 90 or more points five times this season against a GNAC opponent and six times overall. The 32-point win also matches the largest victory over a GNAC opponent this season with their 89-57 win at Central Washington Jan. 24.
 
50-50 NIGHTS: WOU has finished better than 50 percent from both the field and 3-point range in four games this season. It is only the second time they have accomplished the feat four times in a season during their NCAA-era, along with four 50-50 nights during the 2002-03 campaign. It took the '02-'03 team until Feb. 27 to get their fourth 50-50 game recorded while this year's Wolves hit the mark Jan. 31 against Alaska.
 
HOLD AFTER HALF: Western Oregon is 17-2 this year when leading at halftime.
 
CONSECUTIVE LOSSES: WOU had not lost consecutive games since the 2016-17 season, most recently Feb. 9 &11, 2017 at WWU and SFU, until their losses Feb. 14 and 16 at SPU and SMU.
 
OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS: Western Oregon's 22 offensive rebounds Jan. 26 at Northwest Nazarene was their most in a game since Dec. 16, 2014 in a 110-61 win over Multnomah when they pulled in 25. The Wolves set a school NCAA-era record that night with 64 total rebounds, breaking the previous record by 10.

ASSISTS LOW AT NNU: The six team assists Jan. 26 at NNU were the fewest for WOU since their March 24, 2016, meeting with Augustana (S.D.) in the Final Four when they had just five assists.

UN-THREE-LIEVABLE: WOU's 91-65 win over Concordia Jan. 8 was the second time this season they found themselves stamping the program's record books for 3-pointers. Making 14 team 3-pointers in the game, it was the 9th-highest single-game total in the school's NCAA-era history as well as 4th-highest percentage from three (.636). Riley Hawken's 6-for-7 night from deep tied for the 4th-best single-game 3-point percentage as well.

CONVINCING WINS: 16 of the 19 wins this season for WOU have come by at least 11 points. This includes six wins of at least 22.

WHEEL OF STARTERS:  10 separate players have started a game this season for Western Oregon.

BENCH PRODUCTION: The WOU bench has produced at least 15 points in 25 of their 27 games including 11 games of at least 30 points. The WOU bench scored 65 points Dec. 29 vs. Portland Bible College. WOU's leading scorer has been a reserve five times this season.

COLLINS COMING ON STRONG: After scoring just 15 combined points over his first five appearances of the season, freshman Etan Collins has finished in double figures in four of six games between Jan. 5 and Jan. 24 and six times overall this year. His 24 points Dec. 8 against Corban University is the third-highest single-game total by a WOU player this season and the second-highest total by an underclassman. Additionally, his 20 combined rebounds between games Jan. 17 and 19 ties him for the team's highest two-game total with Riley Hawken who had 20 rebounds over that span on two separate occasions.

FOUL DIFFERENTIAL: Western Oregon's sticky defense has led to an even or positive foul differential in all but one game this season; their 129-33 win over Portland Bible College.

TURNOVER MARGINS: The Wolves are 7th in NCAA DII with a +5.7 TO margin. Including two exhibition games this season, WOU has forced at least 13 turnovers in all but five games they have played, going 1-4 in those contests.

RECORD-SETTING NIGHT: Western Oregon's 129-33 win over Portland Bible College Dec. 29 set several GNAC records including largest margin of victory, lowest field goal percentage defense (18.8) and fewest field goals allowed (9). The 96-point win topped the previous conference record by 11 points, set in 2008 by Central Washington. The 129 points was the most by WOU in their NCAA-era and just the third time they have topped 120 points in a game.
 
BAKER'S ALMOST DOZEN: O'landa Baker doled out 11 assists Dec. 29 for a season-high. It was the third-most assists by a WOU player in NCAA-era history and the most since 2015. He accounted for over one-third of the team's 31 assists, coming just three shy of tying the school record for assists in a game. Baker also set himself season-highs in minutes, points, 3-point field goals made, rebounds and steals in that game.
 
DEFENSIVE HAWK: Junior Riley Hawken led the Wolves or tied for the team lead in rebounds in 10 of 11 games between Nov. 23 and Jan. 5. He is also currently 1st in the GNAC with 2.1 steals per game.

LEADING SCORERS: WOU has had nine different leading scorers this season. By class, the Wolves have been led by two freshman, one sophomore, three juniors and three seniors.

SHARING THE LOAD: Four separate Wolves are averaging 10 or more points per game while seven players are averaging more than five points per game.

MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS: WOU went 25-28 at the line Dec. 1 against Western Washington. It was the most free throws made in a game by the Wolves since March 23, 2016 when they went 28-for-31 at the stripe in an 81-68 win over Saginaw Valley State in the 2016 Elite Eight.

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE: The 35 points scored by Colorado Christian Nov. 17 in WOU's 64-35 win was the fewest allowed in a game by the Wolves since Walla Walla's 29-point performance on Dec. 10, 2011. It was then bested a little over a month later when Western Oregon allowed just 33 points to Portland Bible College in a 129-33 win.
 
SOUZA PERFECT FROM THE FIELD: Buster Souza tied his career-high with 14 points off the bench Nov. 17 in a 64-35 win over Colorado Christian. Souza led all scorers in 14 minutes of play. The senior forward was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field while also pulling in four rebounds and two assists. It was only the third time in the school's NCAA-era history that a player has been perfect from the field on seven or more shots.
 
CONFERENCE OPENERS: Western Oregon has won five straight GNAC openers dating back to the 2014-15 season. Their last loss in their first conference game of the season came in a tight 67-66 loss to No. 5 Western Washington on Dec. 5, 2013 in Bellingham. The Wolves got their revenge later that year with an 88-85 win in the regular season finale.

SPANISH GNAC TIES: Former Western Oregon standout Tanner Omlid and former Simon Fraser guard Kedar Salam are now professional teammates, playing for CB Moron of LEB Plata in Spain.  

HAWKEN PRESASON ALL-GNAC: Junior Riley Hawken was the only Western Oregon player selected to the GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team, named a unanimous selection for the 2018-19 season. Hawken is one of six juniors on the team of 15 with the remainder being seniors. Hawken is the lone returning starter off of Western Oregon's GNAC championship team. He averaged 8.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 79.5 percent from the free throw line and averaging 1.6 assists per contest during the Wolves' historic season.

2018-19 GNAC PRESEASON POLL: The Wolves were picked to place third in the league standings following Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific… WOU received two of the 11 first-place votes for 94 total points in the poll to SMU's 118 and SPU's 105… the Wolves were the only team outside of the Saint's to receive a first-place vote and held an 11-point buffer over fourth-place Western Washington.

2017-18 REVIEW: The Wolves went 31-2 overall last season and 19-1 in conference… They cruised to both a regular season and conference tournament title with their only regular season slip coming in the second game of GNAC play against Western Washington. After the loss to the Vikings, the Wolves rattled off a school-record 24 consecutive wins while setting a Great Northwest Athletic Conference record for wins. WOU returned to the West Regional Championship game for the second time in three years, falling to Cal Baptist, 80-76. Tanner Omlid pulled in several postseason accolades, being named the GNAC Player of the Year, D2CCA West Region Player of the Year, D2CCA and NABC All-American and named to the NABC DII All-District Team.

D2 WEST REGION POLL: Western Oregon fell out of the D2SIDA West Region Men's Basketball Poll for this first time this season, receiving a season-low four points in the poll. Three GNAC teams were represented in the poll with Saint Martin's jumping back up into 1st while Northwest Nazarene lost a spot falling into a tie for 4th. Seattle Pacific stays on the brink, ranking 9th.

  

NCAA West Region Poll (Feb. 18, 2019)
Rank / School	Record	Points
1. Saint Martin's (6)	21-3	60
2. Point Loma	21-4	52
3. Cal Poly Pomona	16-5	44
T4. Cal State East Bay	20-5	40
T4. Northwest Nazarene	18-4	40
6. UC San Diego	18-7	26
T7. Chaminade	18-5	22
T7. Concordia (Calif.)	18-5	22
9. Seattle Pacific	15-6	15
10. Azusa Pacific	16-9	5
WOU in West Region Poll
Date	Rank	Points
Nov. 12	7th	21
Nov. 19	9th	14
Nov. 26	T-10th	8
Dec. 3	7th	27
Dec. 10	7th	25
Dec. 20	6th	23
Jan. 7	7th	26
Jan. 14	7th	29
Jan. 21	7th	29
Jan. 28	7th	20
Feb. 4	6th	27
Feb. 11	8th	20
Feb. 18	RV	4