BELLINGHAM, Wash. – While Cameron Cranston posted a big night offensively, his key assist to Tyreek Price helped setup what turned out to be the game-winning shot as the Western Oregon University men's basketball team picked up a big 73-71 Great Northwest Athletic Conference road victory at Western Washington on Thursday night inside Carver Gym.
"Tonight, I was so proud of our resiliency in a tough place to play. We've had great practices the last few weeks and it was good to see the guys break through on the road," head coach Wes Pifer said. "Everyone who touched the floor was fantastic and I thought Cam was special the entire game. Huge shot from Tyreek to put us over the top."
WOU (4-15, 3-8 GNAC) trailed by one with 1:31 to play. After a couple of attempts to take the lead were blocked, the Wolves got one more chance. With 35 seconds to play, Daisone Hughes secured the rebound and eventually Cranston found Price who connected on the go-ahead three-pointer with 20 seconds to play. Price only attempted two shots all game and both were good from three-point range. The defense then took over with John Morrill-Keeler coming up with a steal on the other end and after Western Washington (12-9, 5-6 GNAC) was forced to foul, there were only a few seconds remaining. Jalen Green's three-point attempt missed at the buzzer sending WOU to the 73-71 victory.
The road win was just the fourth for the Wolves in Bellingham since 2001 and was the first win on the road in the series since Jan. 16, 2016. The win also snapped a nine-game losing streak on the season, with the last win coming on Dec. 4 at home against Alaska Anchorage.
It was a big night for Cranston as he led the way with 27 points, along with four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in 37 minutes. He went 10-18 from the field and 5-8 from three. Hughes also put together a huge night off the bench logging 26 minutes and nearly going for a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. He went 8-14 from the field and added three assists. Yosani Clay just missed double-digits with nine points and four assists, along with two rebounds and two steals. Morrill-Keeler tallied six points and six rebounds, while sending back three blocks. Price added six points, including the game-winning three-pointer.
Cranston started his strong night right away hitting a three-pointer just over a minute in. The lead later stretched to five off of two foul shots by Cranston. Following a steal by Clay and eventual transition basket by Hughes moved WOU out to a 17-12 lead. The Vikings came back to take a one-point lead before another push by the Wolves with Hughes hitting a layup off of an offensive rebound and jumper by Clay had the lead back out to four. WWU capped the first half scoring with a jumper by Green to leave WOU with a 33-31 halftime lead.
After Qiant Myers opened the second half with a layup 18 seconds in, WWU came back with a 9-0 run to take a 40-35 lead. Cranston quickly turned momentum hitting a three-pointer and Collin Warmouth tied the game on the next trip down hitting a layup for a 40-all score.
The Vikings moved out to their largest lead of the night at 53-46 with 12:33 to play. Just like earlier, Cranston had an answer. He hit back-to-back three-pointers before another long ball by Price gave WOU a quick 9-0 run and a 55-53 lead.
WOU kept coming and had the lead out to six at 64-58 on a layup by Morrill-Keeler with around seven minutes to play. The Wolves eventually had the lead out to their largest of the night at 68-61 with 4:36 to play on a jumper by Hughes. WWU then came back to regain the lead late setting up the dramatic final minute of the game.
WOU went 30-67 (44.8) from the field, 9-21 (42.9) from three and 4-5 (80) at the foul line. The Wolves committed just eight turnovers and forced 13. The edge on turnovers led to a 17-6 points off turnovers advantage and WOU also won the battle in the paint at 34-16, on bench points at 31-8 and on transition points at 13-4.
Four reached double-figures in scoring for Western Washington with Daniel Hornbuckle leading the way with 21 points. Jalen Green added 15 points, RJ Secrest close to a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds and Luke Lovelady with 12 points. WWU went 25-60 (41.7) from the field, 10-25 (40) from three and 11-14 (78.6) at the foul line.
WOU will now carry the momentum from this road win into Saturday as they will travel to Canada to face Simon Fraser starting at 3 p.m. SFU picked up a 64-63 home win over Saint Martin's on Thursday.
