SEASIDE, Calif. – With an exhibition game in the books, the Western Oregon University men's basketball team will be making the first of several trips to California this year when they begin the regular season against Cal State San Bernardino this Friday at 1 p.m. and Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday at 3 p.m.
For most of November, WOU will be in California. The week of Nov. 19-20, the Wolves will travel to Rohnert Park for two games and then to Arcata on Nov. 23.
The Wolves went 19-8 overall and 13-7 in GNAC play in 2019-20, that included a 10-2 mark inside NPE Gym. WOU played well on the road going 9-6 overall away from Monmouth and 6-5 in true road contests. WOU picked up a big win early that season over then No. 6 ranked and now Division I Dixie State rolling to the 91-75 win in Monmouth. That was part of a five-game winning streak that vaulted the Wolves into the top-25 national rankings of the NABC coming in at No. 24. WOU closed the home portion of the schedule winning five straight games against Central Washington, Western Washington, Simon Fraser, Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks.
Returners include Cameron Cranston who was second on the team in scoring at 13 points per game. He also pulled down 3.6 rebounds per game, dished out 48 assists, added 36 steals, 18 blocks, shot over 48 percent from the field and connected on 53 three-pointers in 27 games. John Morrill-Keeler is back after putting together a strong first season with the Wolves. He tallied 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, along with 18 steals, 22 blocks and shot over 59 percent from the field in 27 games. Tyreek Price returns to the back court after seeing time in 26 games during his first season in Monmouth. He averaged 4.8 points, added 11 assists, 16 steals and 30 three-pointers. Other returners include Antonio Salinas who played in 19 games, tallying 47 points, 21 rebounds, 11 assists and made 12 three-pointers, while making over 42 percent from the field. Collin Warmouth saw time in 17 games, recording 29 points, 16 rebounds and shot over 42 percent from the field. RJ Veliz also played a few games early in the season.
WOU will be without top-scorer Dalven Brushier who led the team in scoring at 18.1 points per game. He also grabbed 4.3 rebounds, dished out 79 assists, added 16 steals and shot 50 percent from the field and almost 43 percent from long range. Jaylyn Richardson also finished his career in 2019-20 and was third on the team in scoring at 12.8 points, while grabbing four rebounds per game, dished out 41 assists, added 29 steals, 15 blocks and shot over 48 percent from the field. Darius Lubom and Emanuel Gant combined to average 23.6 points per game and 10.2 rebounds in their final seasons as Wolves.
Drew Rippingham will be back this year after redshirting in the 2019-20 season.
Four players will be freshmen on the team this year in Griffin Datcher IV, Peter-Kaci Gwananji, Qiant Myers and Zach Moore. Four transfers will look to make an immediate impact for the Wolves in Yosani Clay, Daisone Hughes, Cameron Benzel and Elihu Cobb.
Both of these games will be big early regional matchups. It will be the first time WOU has faced Cal State San Bernardino since at least 2000, while the Wolves have three games against Monterey Bay since 2006, going 2-1. The first meeting went to Monterey Bay at a neutral site game and since then WOU has won the past two meetings in 2014-15 on the road and then in Monmouth in 2015-16. WOU will see a familiar face when they play Cal State San Bernardino, as Lubom transferred to play for the Coyotes. Also, former WOU assistant coach Jordan Jamestown is now on the coaching staff at Cal State San Bernardino. Riley Hamilton, who concluded his collegiate career with the Wolves in 2019-20, is also on the coaching staff now with the Coyotes.
Cal State San Bernardino went 21-8 during the 2019-20 season and picked up the last spot into the West Regional Tournament field. Cal State Monterey Bay went 10-18 in 2019-20 and opened the season that year with two GNAC teams losing to Central Washington (73-93) and defeating Concordia (OR) (97-92).
Daytone Jennings, the Coyotes' second-leading scorer in 2019-20, is back this season after averaging 14.8 points per game, along with a team-high 8.8 rebounds. Cal State San Bernardino features a roster with five seniors, 10 juniors and one freshman. The game against the Wolves will also be their season opener.
The next day WOU will play host Cal State Monterey Bay. The Otters played a pair of exhibition/scrimmage games to start the year against Holy Names and UC Santa Cruz. They will open the season on Friday against GNAC opponent Central Washington.
Leading scorer Andrew Ferguson is back from the 2019-20 season when he averaged 14.9 points per game and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per contest. The Otters' roster features four seniors, six juniors, one sophomore and five freshmen.
Live video and stats will be available for both games.
Live video can be found here and live stats can be found here.
