MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Senior Day trio of Jaylyn Richardson, Dalven Brushier and Riley Hamilton combined for 58 points as the Western Oregon University men's basketball team fought off a 35-point game from Shadeed Shabazz to defeat the Nanooks, 95-89, Saturday in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
"I thought it was an important victory for us as it was closing out one chapter of our season in the regular season and now preparing for the GNAC Championships," head coach Wes Pifer said. "I felt like our guys battled for the most part. You have to give credit to Alaska, they came in here and played extremely hard on our floor. They have one of the best players in the league that can go out and get 35 points. I thought we made enough toughness plays down the stretch to get the win."
Not only did the win improve WOU to 19-7 overall and 13-7 in GNAC play, but coupled with a loss by Northwest Nazarene at Saint Martin's moved the Wolves to the three seed in the upcoming GNAC Championships. WOU tied Western Washington in the standings, but the Vikings claimed the second seed on a tiebreaker. It will be a quick rematch as the Wolves will turn right around and play Alaska in the first round of the GNAC Championships this Thursday at 12 p.m. in Seattle on the campus of Seattle Pacific University.
"Just a lot of resiliency going through some ups and downs and being able to fight back to make our mark," Brushier said. "I was disappointed in myself for getting into foul trouble, but it happens sometimes and you have to battle through it. I just tried to help where I could from the bench and provide support for the guys. While I was out, Jaylyn did a really good job holding the team steady, while we just tried to remain aggressive."
It was a big night for the seniors, as Richardson took over throughout much of the game to help lead WOU to the win. Richardson tallied 27 points on 9-13 shooting, including a strong 5-8 effort from three. He also grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists and sent back a pair of blocks. Brushier added 22 points on 9-17 shooting, along with four rebounds and an assist. Emanuel Gant and Cameron Cranston each reached double-figures in scoring with Gant going for a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Cranston has 11 points and six rebounds, along with a team-high five assists. Hamilton added nine points on his senior night, going 4-7 from the field.
"We overcame adversity today with the ups and downs of the game, but we fought and came out with the win," Richardson said. "My teammates did a real good job of finding me when I was open, while Dalven, even though he wasn't on the floor, he did a good job of being in my ear to keep being aggressive and that's what I tried to do."
WOU was able to pick the win up despite Shabazz going for a game-high 35 points. He also added four rebounds, seven steals and three assists in 38 minutes. Mawich Kachjaani added a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Alaska (11-17, 10-10 GNAC) opened the game strong behind six straight points from Shabazz for a 6-0 lead just over three minutes in. The Nanooks pushed the lead as high as seven before WOU fought back to take the lead for the first time.
Zach Baugher helped ignite a 10-2 run when he sunk a top-of-the-key three. Brushier then scored a traditional three-point-play before Cranston tied the game at 19 on a layup following an offensive rebound by Brushier. Near the midway point of the half, a pair of free throws by Gant gave the Wolves their first lead of 21-19.
Holding a three-point lead late in the half, WOU stretched the lead out to double-digits with Richardson hitting a jumper and then a three-pointer before a jumper by Hamilton left the Wolves with a 44-34 lead.
The Nanooks outscored WOU by two the remainder of the half to leave the Wolves with a 47-39 lead at the break.
A Darius Lubom jumper just over a minute into the second half kept the WOU lead at 10 when Alaska came surging back. Over the next three minutes, the Nanooks fought back to within a point at 53-52. Alaska kept pushing regaining the lead at 58-56 on a dunk by Spencer Sweet, but on the play, he was whistled for a technical foul that helped swing momentum back to WOU. Following the technical, Lubom hit both free throws and Tyreek Price sunk a triple to move WOU back in front by three.
An offensive rebound and putback by Gant pushed the lead back to eight near the midway point of the half, just to watch Alaska fight right back with a 6-0 run to trim the deficit to two.
Still in front by four with under three minutes to play, WOU made several key plays to seal the victory. Brushier was able to convert another tough jumper in the paint to move the lead to six. Then on a missed three-pointer, Gant snagged the rebound and found Brushier who again attacked the rim hitting a layup to push the lead back to eight with 2:36 to play.
"With it being March now, it's a different season. We finished the first two chapters of the preseason and conference schedule and now it's postseason tournament time," Brushier said. "We have our goals in mind all year, now it's just time to step up and make them happen."
Alaska would get no closer than five on a three-pointer by Shabazz, but that came with just 14 seconds to play as WOU was able to then close out the 95-89 victory.
WOU went 34-70 (48.6) from the field, 11-29 (37.9) from three and 16-20 (80) from the foul line. Alaska also shot well from the field going 31-66 (47), but struggled from deep going just 5-20 (25) from three, but stayed in the game at the foul line going 22-24 (91.7).
Most of the categories were close across the board with each team scoring 19 points off turnovers and each scoring 40 points in the paint. WOU held a big advantage on bench points (32-21) and used a 11-5 edge on three-pointers.
"It's about staying focused, as we've been talking about this point in the season way before this moment even came," Richardson said. "Now it's just our time to go out there and do what we have to do."
Other matchups for the GNAC Championships include No. 4 Northwest Nazarene facing No. 5 Alaska Anchorage in the game following the WOU/Alaska game at 2:15 p.m.
"I thought Jaylyn's energy was spectacular. It's never points with Jaylyn that I measure how good he is playing, it is usually his offensive activity on the glass. For a stretch there in the second half, he kept us in it," Pifer said. "For me as a coach, this is my first senior class and they've been really important to me and our coaching staff. I thought all three had fantastic senior nights and something to be proud of."
The winners from Thursday's quarterfinals will then move on to face the top two seeds Friday with the WOU/Alaska winner facing No. 2 Western Washington at noon and then the Northwest Nazarene/Alaska Anchorage winner facing the top seed and host in Seattle Pacific at 2:15 p.m.
The Championship Game will take place on Saturday at 5 p.m. with the champion receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA West Regional field.
WOU will now prepare for the postseason part of the schedule that will begin this coming Thursday when the Wolves will face Alaska for the second time in six days to open the GNAC Championships at noon in Seattle.
