MONMOUTH, Oregon --- The Western Oregon men's basketball team hits the road for the first time this season as the Wolves travel to compete at the Ron Logsdon Basketball Challenge where they will take on Stanislaus State 5 p.m. Friday and host Sonoma State 4 p.m. Saturday.

WESTERN OREGON HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | 2022-23 STATISTICS
The Wolves opened the season at home with the GNAC/CCAA Challenge where they lost to ninth-ranked CSU San Bernardino 76-64 Friday and bounced back to beat CSU Monterey Bay 87-80 Saturday.

Cameron Cranston leads the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game to go along with 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists. John Morrill-Keeler is averaging 13 points and 5.0 rebounds while Cameron Benzel and Yosani Clay are each averaging 10 points per contest.

The Wolves are shooting 46.4 percent from the field through two games, including 37.1 percent from 3-point ragne. Defensively, the Wolves are holding their opponents to 41.1 percent shooting from the field.

THE WOLVES' OPPONENTS THIS WEEK ... STANISLAUS STATE STATS | SONOMA STATE STATS
Stanislaus State enters the game 1-1 on the season after falling at home to Point Loma 73-62 Friday with Kobe Ordonio leading the way with 21 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals before defeating Fresno Pacific 65-57 on Saturday with Marlon Short leading the team with 18 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Sonoma State participated in the CCAA/PacWest Challenge last week, losing to Dominican 82-76 on Saturday (Nick Klarman led the team with 23 poitns to go along with eight rebounds and five assists) and to Academy of Art 77-70 on Sunday (Austin Fadal had a team-high 18 points to go along wit hfive rebounds and a pair of assists).
  CRANSTON PICKED AS PRESEASON GNAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR, WOLVES TABBED TO FINISH EIGHTH
Western Oregon's Cameron Cranston was named the GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year as the 6-foot-6 senior is coming off a season where he averaged 18.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks while shooting 43.2 percent from 3-point range and 79.3 percent from the free throw line. Cranston earned All-GNAC Second Team honors in 2021-22. The rest of the All-GNAC Preseason Team can be found here.

As a team, WOU was voted eighth in the GNAC Preseason Men's Basketball Poll. The Wolves and their 48 points - which did include one first-place vote - were in a pack of three teams within five points of each other with No. 6 Alaska Anchorage (53 points) and No. 7 Central Washington (52). Saint Martin's was picked to win the conference with 81 points and three first-place votes - though five teams overall garnered first-place votes in No. 2 Northwest Nazarene (78 points, two first-place votes), Montana State Billings (69 points, three first-place votes) and Western Washington (66 points, one first-place vote). WOU is coming off of a 9-18 2021-22 campaign, going 6-10 in GNAC play to finish ninth - but the Wolves did make a run to the GNAC Championship semifinals.

MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
1. Saint Martin's (3), 81 pts.
2. Northwest Nazarene (2), 78 pts.
3. Montana St. Billings (3), 69 pts.
4. Western Washington (1), 66 pts.
5. Seattle Pacific, 60 pts.
6. Alaska Anchorage, 53 pts.
7. Central Washington, 52 pts.
8. Western Oregon (1), 48 pts.
9. Simon Fraser, 23 pts.
10. Alaska, 20 pts.