MONMOUTH, Ore. --- The Western Oregon men's basketball team hits the road this week in its final games of the 2025 calendar year to take on Westminster and Eastern New Mexico in Salt Lake City.

Western Oregon (4-5) at Westminster (6-4)
3 p.m. (PT) Thursday • Salt Lake City, UT
All-Time: 2-2
Streak: Lost 2
Last: 76-68 loss at home (Nov. 21, 2025)
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Western Oregon (4-5) vs. Eastern New Mexico (8-1)
3 p.m. (PT) Friday •Salt Lake City, UT
All-Time: First Meeting
Streak: N/A
Last: N/A
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The teams this season ...

• The Wolves are 4-5 on the season under first-year WOU head coach Ryan Orton - only a win shy of last season's win total (5-23). WOU has been led by its defense, holding teams to 67.1 points per game - 39th in DII. Jadin Penigar continues to be one of the top scorers in DII at 21.1 points per game (21st in DII).
• Westminster enters 6-4 on the season after starting RMAC play 1-3. The Griffins are 21st in DII in 3-point percentage at 39.5 and feature three players (Frazier, Hayes, Kadoguchi) averaging double figures in scoring.
• Eastern New Mexico enters this week one of the hottest teams in DII, having won eight in a row since a narrow 76-73 loss to Fort Lewis to open the season. The Greyhounds are 13th in DII in FG% (50.4), 18th in fastbreak points (18.6) and 13th in steals (11.3). Jose Murillo leads the team at 15.3 ppg.

Last time out ...

• The Wolves rallied for a 57-55 win over Linfield at home Saturday behind Braydon Olson scoring a career-high 20 points, including 17 points in the final 10 minutes to complete the comeback (5 3-pointers over that stretch).
• The Griffins are coming off a 1-1 week at home where they beat Colorado School of Mines on Thursday (87-70) thanks to going 13-for-27 from 3 before falling to MSU Denver 81-70 with Colin Hayes leading the team with 17 points while Jonah El-Farra had 13 points and eight boards.
• ENMU had one game last week, picking up a road win at UT Dallas 90-83 on Thursday - hitting just three 3s, but scoring 60 points in the paint. Cooper Jackson led the way with 22 points, eight assists, four steals and four rebounds.

WOU SEASON NOTES

Olson white hot in final 9:18 against Linfield ...
WOU trailed Linfield 39-31 with less than 9:18 remaining in the contest on Dec. 13 when Braydon Olson drained a 3-pointer to start an epic finish for the sophomore. The 6-3 guard scored 17 of the Wolves' final 26 points the rest of the game - going 6-for-6 from the field (including 5-for-5 from 3-point range) to help WOU defeate the Wildcats 57-55. He finished with a career-high 20 points

Defensive state of mind ...
The Wolves have seen a dramatic improvement defensively as they are allowing 67.1 points per game - third in the conference and 39th in the nation. Last season, the Wolves allowed 83.8 points per game - ranked last in the conference and 263rd in DII.

Penigar off to hot start ...
WOU guard Jadin Penigar leads the GNAC and is 14th in the nation in scoring at 22.3 points per game. This includes breaking 30 twice this season - a 30-point effort against Alaska Fairbanks on Dec. 4 and a 34-point effort against Westmont in Monmouth on Nov. 22 where he went 14-for-26 from the field, including 6-for-11 from 3-point range.

The Orton era begins ...
Creswell, Oregon, native Ryan Orton returns to his home state as he begins his first year as the Western Oregon head coach. Orton comes to Monmouth from Alaska Anchorage where in 10 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach (two stints, 2009-12 and 2017-2025) he helped the Seawolves reach the NCAA Tournament three times (2011, 2012, 2024) as they went 175-122 during his time in Anchorage.

During the time between his two stints at UAA, Orton was the head coach at Western Wyoming Community College where in five seasons he took WWCC to five Region IX postseason tournaments, averaged 20 wins per season over his final three years and went 82-72 overall. Prior to his first stint at UAA, Orton was an assistant coach at Montana State (2006-08), Northwest Nazarene (2004-06) and Eastern Washington (2000-03) with a year as the Lane Community College head coach during the 2003-04 season. He was also a graduate assistant at EWU from 1998-2000.

Orton played basketball at Eastern Oregon (named the 1996 team MVP and All-Cascade Conference Honorable Mention) and at Northwest Christian University in Eugene (1991-93).

Penigar named Preseason All-GNAC
Western Oregon's Jadin Penigar was named to the All-GNAC Preseason Team as the UT Tyler transfer gets set for his second stint in the GNAC (he played at Seattle Pacific in 2023-24 (averaging 9.4 points per game). Last season at UT Tyler he averaged 5.9 points per contest.

10th Anniversary of WOU Final Four Team
The Western Oregon men's basketball program 10 seasons ago in 2015-16 had its best season in program history, going 31-4, winning the GNAC regular season and tournament title, winning the NCAA West Region (hosted the event) and winning an Elite 8 game before falling in the Final Four. WOU was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation that season.