Vikings Hold on for Wild Win Over Wolves, 84-80

Western Oregon led for nearly the whole first half, taking their largest margin with a 24-16 lead.

Adonal Arrington chipped in 13 points and eight rebound for Western Oregon University's Wolves. Salem-News.com Sports

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington's Ira Graham had 33 points, including a three-pointer with 1:02 left that erased a one-point Western Oregon lead as the host Vikings topped the Wolves, 84-80.

With the win, WWU improved to 9-4 on the season and to 2-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Western Oregon dropped its fourth straight game to fall to 7-6 overall and to 0-4 in the GNAC.

Graham and WOU's Travis Kuhns hooked up in a scoring duel, with Graham winning by one point while his Vikings won by four. But Kuhns had a career high 32 points, hitting five of six three-point attempts, and he also nailed nine of ten free throw attempts.

Adonal Arrington chipped in 13 points and eight rebound for WOU, and Dane Johnson added 11 points and four assists on perfect 5-for-5 shooting from the field. Calin Schell had a near double-double for the Vikings with 18 points and nine rebounds. Western Oregon out-rebounded their hosts 34-26, but WWU forced the Wolves into 20 turnovers thanks in part to 12 Viking steals.

Western Oregon led for nearly the whole first half, taking their largest margin with a 24-16 lead. The Wolves would go into the locker room up 34-30 on the scoreboard.

WWU evened things up in the second half, and led for the major portion of the second half, but never by more than five points. WOU clawed back to take the lead on an Arrington basket with 1:27 left (78-77), but the Vikings would answer with a Graham three-pointer with 1:02 left to take back the lead, 80-78.

A steal by Zach Bruce with 38 seconds left on the clock forced the Wolves to foul, and Graham hit two free throws to put the hosts up 82-78. Stanley Ratcliff would score for Western Oregon a few seconds later (82-80), and a follow-up foul sent WWU to the free throw line again. A miss gave the Wolves a chance to tie or take the lead, but Brad Krichevsky's trey miss with 10 seconds left forced the Wolves to foul again, and Steve Alford sealed the game with two more free throws with six seconds left.

Western Oregon looks to nail down its first conference win next week, hosting Seattle University on Thursday and Montana State Billings on Saturday.

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