MONMOUTH, Ore. – Trailing by eight at halftime, the Western Oregon University men's basketball team came out strong to start the second half and evened the score. Saint Martin's then used a big run to pull away for the 89-67 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory Saturday inside New PE Gym. It was also alumni recognition night as the men's basketball team had seven decades represented at the game.
John Morrill-Keeler and Yosani Clay combined for seven of the first nine points to start the second half and pull the Wolves (3-12, 2-5 GNAC) to within three. Following two free throws by Saint Martin's (13-4, 6-2 GNAC), Cameron Cranston hit a layup off a steal by Tyreek Price and then a three-point-play by Clay tied the game at 49 just over three minutes into the second stanza.
The Saints then found a rhythm going on a 29-0 run over the next 10 minutes to take a 78-49 lead. WOU tried to get back into it with a five-point spurt by Cranston and a basket by Antonio Salinas for a 7-0 run, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Saint Martin's opened the game on a 4-0 run before Morrill-Keeler got the Wolves on the board with a layup. After the Saints stretched the lead out to six, Salinas hit the first of back-to-back three-pointers to keep WOU right there.
The Saints pushed the lead out to 11 before the Wolves closed the half cutting into the lead with a three by Cranston and layup by Morrill-Keeler to trail by eight at halftime.
Cranston led the Wolves with 20 points, along with three rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Clay added 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Morrill-Keeler reached double-figures in scoring with 14 points, along with two steals and a block. Salinas chipped in eight points. WOU went 21-55 (38.2) from the field, 6-27 (22.2) from three and 19-20 (95) at the foul line.
Alex Schumacher put together a big game for the Saints tallying 27 points, along with eight assists, six rebounds and two steals. Brett Reed picked up a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Greeley added 17 points and Champ Spencer tallied 15 points. The Saints went 30-54 (55.6) from the field, 9-16 (56.3) from three and 20-28 (71.4) at the foul line.
The game Saturday against Saint Martin's starts a busy home week for the Wolves as they will play three more games inside New PE this week continuing on Tuesday against Simon Fraser at 4:15 p.m. WOU will also see Seattle Pacific on Thursday starting at 7 p.m. and Montana State Billings on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.
