MONMOUTH, Oregon --- The Western Oregon men's basketball team looks to build off a win last week at home when the Wolves host first-place Saint Martin's 4:15 p.m. Saturday at New PE Building.

WESTERN OREGON HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | 2022-23 STATISTICS
The Wolves are coming off splitting a pair of home games last week, losing in overtime to Western Washington 95-93 on Dec. 29 before bouncing back two days later to defeat Simon Fraser 79-67 to snap a four-game losing streak.

Cameron Cranston leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game (fifth in the GNAC) to go along with 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Cameron Benzel is averaging 12.7 points and a team-high 6.1 rebounds (seventh in the GNAC) and 1.0 blocks per contest (along with 1.1 steals). Yosani Clay is averaging 12.0 points and 1.7 steals while John Morrill-Keeler is averaging 11.5 points, 6.0 rebounds per game and is shooting a GNAC-best 64.9 percent from the field. Jahville Collins has come on strong the last three games for WOU, averaging 16 points and shooting 65.6 percent from the field (including 6-for-10 from 3-point range). Qiant Myers is second in the GNAC in assists at 6.2 per game.

THE WOLVES' OPPONENTS THIS WEEK ... SAINT MARTIN STATS
SAINT MARTIN'S enters Saturday having won three games in a row, including beating Simon Fraser (94-81) and Western Washington (89-84) last weekend.

As a team, the Saints own a scoring margin of plus-12.7 points per game - second in the conference - and lead the GNAC in 3-pointers per game (11.3). Kyle Greeley leads the team in scoring (16.2 ppg, fourth in the GNAC) to go along with 4.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 42.1 percent from 3-point range and 61.8 percent from the field. Branden Bunn is averaging 11.6 points per game while shooting 45.3 percent from 3-point range and Tyke Thompson is averaging 10.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest.

WOU's RECENT HISTORY VERSUS SMU
The Wolves lost twice to Saint Martin's in the regular season last season (by at least 22 points in each contest), but beat the Saints when they needed to - defeating SMU 73-72 in the GNAC Championship quarterfinals. Since the 2000-01 season, WOU is 32-15 against SMU - including 16-6 at home (though it has lost its last two games at home against the Saints).
  MYERS RACKS UP MOST ASSISTS FOR WOLF SINCE 2015
WOU's Qiant Myers showed his ability to give 12 days before Christmas this season as the sophomore racked up 13 assists against Cal Poly Humboldt - the most for a Wolves player since Julian Nichols had 15 on Jan. 22, 2015. He's the first WOU player to reach double figures in assists since 2016. His 6.4 assists per game ranks fourth in the nation and first in the GNAC. 
 

MBB | Tis the season for giving ... and Western Oregon's Qiant Myers did just that Tuesday night against Cal Poly Humboldt. pic.twitter.com/Qabr4LLRJm

— Western Oregon Wolves Athletics (@WOU_Wolves) December 15, 2022

PERFECT SHOOTING ON BACK-TO-BACK DAYS FOR WOU FORWARDS BENZEL AND MORRILL-KEELER
It's unusual to have one player score 19 or more points while not missing a shot from the field or free-throw line, but to have it happen on back-to-back days is an impressive feat the Western Oregon men's basketball team did Nov. 18-19 at the Ron Logsdon Basketball Challenge in Rohnert Park, California.

On Nov. 18, Cameron Benzel went 8-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line to finish with 19 points in a win over Stanislaus State. The next night in a win over Sonoma State, John Morrill-Keeler went 7-for-7 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line for 20 points. It wasn't quite a record, however, as Yuri Whyms during the 2001-02 season went 11-for-11 from the field in a contest against Saint Martin's.

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.