SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Four straight three-pointers by the Western Oregon University men's basketball team in the span of just under two minutes erased what was a 16-point deficit and had the Wolves within six after a 12-2 run. Westminster was able to survive the rally hitting key foul shots down the stretch to take the 70-62 win on Saturday night inside Behnken Fieldhouse.
WOU (1-6) caught fire at the right time from downtown, as the Wolves hit 9-17 (52.94) from long range in the second half and ended up making 11 for the game. John Morrill-Keeler led the way with 12 points, hitting two from downtown and added six rebounds along with two blocks off the bench. Cameron Cranston nearly completed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, along with a block and three assists as he made a pair of triples. Daisone Hughes reached double-figures in scoring with 10 points and added three rebounds and two steals. Tyreek Price just missed double-digits with nine points, along with two steals. He led the team with a trio of three-pointers. Elihu Cobb tallied eight points and six rebounds. Yosani Clay gave the Wolves four to make multiple three-pointers when he added two.
Out of the gate, Westminster (2-4) tallied the first four points. Cranston got the Wolves on the board with a three-pointer at the 17:18 mark. The Griffins went on a 6-0 run over the next four minutes to stretch the lead out to 10-3.
Morrill-Keeler came back with two straight layups to cut the deficit back to three. After Westminster had the lead out to 11 late in the first half, WOU got back to within seven with Cobb hitting two straight shots.
The Griffins capped the opening 20 minutes on a 5-0 run for the 32-20 lead at halftime.
WC had the lead out to 16 a minute into the second half and still led by 15 at the 16:22 mark when the first three-point barrage got things close again for the Wolves. Price opened the run hitting a triple, then Clay and Hughes added three-pointers of their own for a quick 9-0 run that left the Griffins with a 40-34 lead.
With under six minutes to play, WC had the lead back out to 16 when the second three-point barrage made things interesting down the stretch. This time, WOU would hit four straight from downtown. Morrill-Keeler began the run with a three, then on the next trip down, he hit another long ball. Price stepped into a three-point on the next trip down and then Cranston capped the run with his own three-pointer at the 4:04 mark that had WOU right back in it down six at 59-53 with still four minutes to play following a 12-2 run.
The Wolves had a few chances to cut into the deficit further over the next couple of minutes, but weren't able to reduce the lead for the Griffins. The defense kept WC off the board as well with neither team scoring until 1:44 to play when Taylor Miller hit a big corner three-pointer for the Griffins to push the lead to nine.
Hughes then put together a stretch of five-straight points for the Wolves, but the Griffins converted most of their foul shots down the stretch to take the 70-62 victory.
WOU went 23-60 (38.3) from the field, 11-32 (34.4) from three and 5-7 (71.4) from the foul line. The Wolves held a 32-24 edge on bench points.
Yusuf Mohamed tallied a big game for the Griffins coming away with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Miller added 14 points and Donaval Avila with 11 points. WC went 23-54 (42.6) from the field, 2-14 (14.3) from three and 22-30 (73.3) from the foul line. The Griffins used big advantages on points off turnovers (25-10), points in the paint (40-20) and fastbreak points (18-6).
After playing the first month of the regular season on the road, the Wolves will return home for the regular season and GNAC home opener this coming Thursday when they host Alaska Fairbanks starting at 7:30 p.m. inside New PE Gym. WOU will close the week on Saturday hosting Alaska Anchorage at 4:15 p.m.
