MONMOUTH, Ore. --- The Western Oregon men's basketball team picked up a big win Saturday night as the Wolves pulled away late in the second half to defeat Seattle Pacific 80-74 at New PE Building.

WOU now sits at 7-7 in conference play, good for fifth place in the GNAC - and could be tied for fourth if Northwest Nazarene loses late Saturday night. The top six teams in the conference get into the postseason tournament and the Wolves are a game up on No. 6 Western Washington with four games left to go in the regular season. There are seven teams within a three-game span from the No. 3 spot to the No. 9 spot.

As for Saturday night, the Wolves (10-11 overall) held a slim 69-67 lead on the Falcons (14-10, 9-6) with 3:55 left before short 5-0 run over the next two minutes capped by a Qiant Myers steal that led to an alley-oop from RJ Veliz to Cameron Benzel that made it 74-67 with 1:55 left.

The Falcons wouldn't get within a possession of the Wolves (who led by as much as 10 in the second half) the rest of the game as WOU went 4-for-4 from the line in the final minute to put the game away. It was a turnaround for WOU at the line after going 9-for-20 (45 percent) in a triple-overtime loss to first-place MSU Billings as the Wolves went 27-for-34 (79.4 percent)

Cameron Cranston paced WOU with 27 points, five rebounds and two blocks as he was the only starter to finish in double figures, though Myers finished with eight points, eight assists and two steals. Yosani Clay came off the bench with 13 points while Veliz provided a big spark off the bench with 11 points.

The Wolves hit the road next week as they travel to Alaska to take on Fairbanks on Thursday and Anchorage on Saturday.