BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Western Oregon men's basketball team begins the defense of their Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament title this week in Bellingham, taking on Montana State Billings in the opening round of play. WOU received the No. 4 seed in the tournament while MSUB takes the No. 5 spot. The Wolves and Yellowjackets will play Thursday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. inside Carver Gym with the winner advancing to meet Saint Martin's in the second round on Friday.

ABOUT MSUB (15-13, 10-10 GNAC): Much like the Wolves, the Yellowjackets thrived on their home court this year. Going 12-4 at Alterowitz Gym, MSUB did not lose at home after Feb. 2.
 
The 'Jackets finished strong with four wins in their final six games of the season, including a pair of double digit wins in the final week of the season in Alaska.
 
Western Oregon went 2-0 against MSUB this season, winning 81-65 Jan. 10 in Billings before a convincing 97-65 victory at home Feb. 9. Brendan Howard was the only player to finish in double figures in scoring in both meetings against WOU, scoring a combined 39 points over the two games including 27 in Monmouth. The 'Jackets committed 32 turnovers over the two games while forcing just 14.
 
MSUB's 37.7 percent 3-point shooting is tied for the second-best clip in the conference behind Simon Fraser at 38.4 percent. Tyler Green has led that attack from the outside, hitting 93 3-pointers this season – the 12th-highest total in all of NCAA Division II.
 
MSUB finished the season 3-8 on the road and 0-1 in neutral site games.

WOU vs. MSUB: WOU is 18-10 against MSUB since 2003. The Wolves have won six in a row and 12 of the last 13 meetings dating back to Jan. 4, 2014. Their last meeting in the conference tournament was March 2, 2017, in Lacey, Wash. when the Wolves topped the Yellowjackets 72-61 in the first round. This is the 3rd overall meeting in postseason play between the two teams having split the previous two. MSUB's last win over WOU came Dec. 5, 2016, 79-71 in Billings.

ABOUT WESTERN OREGON (20-9, 13-7 GNAC): The Wolves finished the regular season 4-4 over their final eight games to reach the 20-win mark for the second straight season and the fourth time in the last five years.
 
The Wolves finished the season as the conference's leaders in several major categories including scoring defense (65.7 ppg), scoring margin (+12.1), steals (8.0/g), turnover margin (+5.28) and assist/turnover ratio (1.4).
 
Riley Hawken finished as the team's leading scorer (12.3) and as one of four players averaging at least 10 points per game for WOU. He also finished 1st in steals (2.0) and 6th in rebounding (6.5) in the GNAC.
 
The Wolves are making their 6th consecutive appearance in the conference tournament, having won two of the last three titles.

NATIONAL RANKS: The Wolves are currently 10th in TO margin (+5.28), 22nd in scoring margin (+12.1) and 17th in scoring defense (65.7 ppg) in NCAA DII.
 
GNAC RANKS: In the conference, the Wolves rank 1st in scoring defense (65.7 ppg), scoring margin (+12.1), steals per game (8.0), assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and turnover margin (+5.28).

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. Additionally, an opponent have broken 70 just once over their last 7 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 12 of the last 16 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: 17 of the 20 wins this season for WOU have come by at least 11 points. This includes six wins of at least 22.

WHEEL OF STARTERS:  11 separate players have started a game this season for Western Oregon.

BENCH PRODUCTION: The WOU bench has produced at least 14 points in 27 of their 29 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 three games this season including two of their last three.

TURNOVER MARGINS: The Wolves are 10th in NCAA DII with a +5.28 TO margin. Including two exhibition games this season, WOU has forced at least 13 turnovers in all but seven games they have played, going 2-5 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 returned to the NCAA West Region Men's Basketball Poll for last week, holding the final spot in the rankings. Four GNAC teams were represented in the poll with Saint Martin's holding onto 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. 24, 2019)
Rank / School	Record	Points
1. Saint Martin's	20-4	60
2. Point Loma	22-4	52
3. Seattle Pacific	17-6	44
4. Cal Poly Pomona	16-5	40
5. Chaminade	20-6	40
6. UC San Diego	20-7	26
7. Northwest Nazarene	16-5	22
8. Cal State East Bay	20-5	22
9. Concordia (Calif.)	21-8	15
10. Western Oregon	20-9	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
Feb. 24	10th	5