MONMOUTH, Ore. --- The Western Oregon men's basketball team plays a foe where the last three games have been determined by two points or less with it coming down to the last shot as the Wolves open the GNAC Championships 2:15 p.m. Thursday against Central Washington. The Wolves fell on a last-second 3-pointer by CWU on Saturday, WOU beat the Wildcats on a last-second shot in their first meeting of the season and the teams met in the GNAC Championships semifinals last sason with the Wildcats winning by two.

MEN'S BASKETBALL GNAC CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Quarterfinals
THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023
No. 6 Northwest Nazarene vs No. 3 Seattle Pacific	Bellingham, WA (GNAC Championships)	12:00 p.m.
No. 5 Western Oregon vs No. 4 Central Washington	Bellingham, WA (GNAC Championships)	2:15 p.m.
Semifinals
FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023
3/6 winner vs No. 2 Montana State Billings	Bellingham, WA (GNAC Championships)	12:00 p.m.
4/5 winner vs No. 1 Saint Martin's	Bellingham, WA (GNAC Championships)	2:15 p.m.
Championship
SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2023
TBA vs TBA	Bellingham, WA (GNAC Championships)	5:00 p.m.

WESTERN OREGON HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | 2022-23 STATISTICS
Last week:

• Feb. 23: W, 65-53 vs. Northwest Nazarene (Benzel 19 pts, Morrill-Keeler 10 reb, Myers 6 ast) - BOXSCORE
• Feb. 25: L, 75-73 vs. Central Washington (Cranston 14 pts, Myers 5 reb, Myers 7 ast)  - BOXSCORE

Current Streak: Lost 1

Record Splits: Overall: 12-13 Home: 6-6 Road: 5-6 Neutral: 1-1

Stat Leaders (GNAC Rank):

• Scoring: Cranston - 16.7 ppg (3rd)
• Field Goal Percentage: Benzel - 63.4 (2nd), Morrill-Keeler - 58.9 (4th)
• Rebounding: Morrill-Keeler - 6.4 rpg (4th)
• Assists: Myers - 5.9 apg (3rd)
• Steals: Myers - 1.3 spg (T-10th)
• Blocks: Benzel - 0.8 (T-11th)
• 3-pt FG/Game: Cranston - 1.7 (T-12th)

CENTRAL WASHINGTON HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | 2022-23 STATISTICS
Last week:

• Feb. 23: W, 77-75 at No. 21 Saint Martin's (McNeil 25 pts, Brizee 8 reb, Gilbert 11 ast) - BOXSCORE
• Feb. 25: W, 75-73 at Western Oregon (McNeil 29 pts,   - BOXSCORE

Current Streak: Won 4 (Three by two points, the other by five points)

Record Splits: Overall: 13-14 Home: 7-5 Road: 5-5 Neutral: 1-4

Stat Leaders (GNAC Rank):

• Scoring: McNeil - 15.4 (4th); Poquette - 13.0 (10th)
• Field Goal Percentage: Poquette - 52.9 (13th)
• Rebounding: Poquette - 6.7 (3rd); Hector - 6.2 (5th)
• Assists: Gilbert - 7.0 apg (1st)
• Steals: Gilbert, Banks - 1.2 (T-16th)
• Blocks: Hector - 1.2 (3rd)
• 3-pt FG/Game: McNeil - 2.0 (T-6th)

RECENT HISTORY/ VERSUS CENTRAL WASHINGTON/GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS RECORDS
WOU vs. Central Washington
Streak: Lost 1
This Season: W, 69-67 at CWU (Dec. 12); L, 75-73 at home (Feb. 25) 
Series Record Since 2000-01 Season: 21-23
Last GNAC Championship Meeting: March 4, 2022 - 65-64 CWU victory in Lacey, Washington
Series Record in GNAC Championships: 0-1 (Last season was first meeting in GNAC Championships between WOU and CWU)
WOU's record in GNAC Championships (titles): 11-8 (2 - 2018, 2016) - The 11 wins is tied with Seattle Pacific for the most since event began in 2011
WOU's current consecutive years making GNAC Championships: 9
CWU's record in GNAC Championships (titles): 7-6 (1 - 2011)
CWU's current consecutive years making GNAC Championships: 2
  CRANSTON NAMED ALL-GNAC FIRST TEAM, BENZEL HONORABLE MENTION
Western Oregon men's basketball's Cameron Cranston was named All-GNAC First Team while teammate Cameron Benzel was selected honorable mention when the conference released the awards Tuesday, Feb. 27.

Cranston, who was a unanimous selection, is third in the GNAC in scoring at 16.7 points per game to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He is shooting 39.2 percent from 3-point range and 85.1 percent from the line (fifth in the GNAC). Cranston was an all-conference second-team selection last season and was named honorable mention in 2019-20 - the only player in the GNAC this season earning his third honor.

Benzel is earning his first All-GNAC recognition being selected honorable mention after averaging 11.7 points, 6.1 rebounds (seventh in the GNAC) and 1.3 assists per game. He's shooting 63.4 percent from the field - good for second in the conference.

CRANSTON GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - FEB. 13
In his second week back from an injury that cost him a month of time, Western Oregon senior and GNAC Preseason Player of the Year Cameron Cranston appears to be rounding into form - good news for the Wolves and bad news for the rest of the conference. Cranston on Feb. 13 was named the GNAC Player of the Week after he averaged 29.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in a triple-overtime loss to first-place MSU Billings (32 points) and a key win over Seattle Pacific (27 points). Cranston during the week went 7-for-14 from 3-point range (50 percent) and 12-for-13 from the free throw line (92.3 percent).

VELIZ NAMED TO GNAC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Western Oregon's RJ Veliz was named to the GNAC Men's Basketball All-Academic Team on Feb. 8 when the conference released the list. Veliz, from Woodburn, Oregon, owns a 3.77 GPA in Exercise Science and it's his second year in a row to be named to the team.

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.
 
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.