WOU Men's Basketball] Western Oregon 89, Evergreen State 88‏

The Western Oregon University men's basketball team defeated Evergreen State College 89-88 Saturday Dec. 13th. The win moves the Wolves to 3-2 on the season and drops the Geoducks record to 6-2.

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MONMOUTH, Ore. - Travis Kuhns led four Western Oregon student-athletes in double-figure scoring with 26 points as he went 3-of-4 from three-point range and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. He also pulled down eight rebounds and had a team-best four assists. Mike McLaughlin and Blair Wheadon put up 14 and 16 points, respectively, as both went 6-of-10 from the field. In his first game of the season, Demario Ballard came off the bench to scored 10 points for Western Oregon in just 15 minutes of play.

The Wolves trailed 48-44 at the half but turned it around to outscore the Geoducks 45-40 in the second half for the 89-88 victory. The game was tight throughout as neither team held a lead larger than six points. WOU went in front for good at 81-79 on two free throws by McLaughlin and led 82-81 with 2:00 remaining. After a defensive stop, Kuhns drove the ball and dished off to Ratcliff for the lay up as the Wolves went up 85-81. The Wolves would convert five free throws in the final 34.9 seconds to hold on for the victory.

"This was a good test of our mental toughness tonight," said head coach Craig Stanger. "They are a good team and make you pay for your mistakes. We converted well down the stretch and did enough to get the win."

Western Oregon used a 44-34 rebounding advantage in the game including a 20-11 edge on the offensive glass. As a team, WOU took eight more shots than ESC and made four more baskets as each team shot 45 percent.

The first half featured seven ties and seven lead changes but the Geoducks took a 48-44 lead into the locker room. The largest lead of the game came as ESC jumped out to a 42-36 advantage but WOU answered back with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 44 apiece. However, the Geoducks would get the final two baskets of the half for the lead at the midway point. Kuhns scored 15 of the Wolves first 23 points in the game and 18 in the first half. Ratcliff hauled in seven boards in the half including four on the offensive glass.

"We are still looking for consistency on offense and to take care of the ball," continued Stanger. "Defensively we just need to do the little things to make it more difficult for our opponent to score."

The Western Oregon men's basketball team will be on the road for the rest of the month as it faces Sonoma State (Dec. 19th), Humboldt State (Dec. 20th), BYU (Dec. 23rd), Fort Lewis (Dec. 29th) and Mesa State (Dec. 30th).

"This road trip will be a good test for us," noted Stanger. "We will be facing some tough competition and we are looking forward to the challenge."

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