Mount Hood

Wolves pounce on Falcons in overtime

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

The Western Oregon men’s basketball team has fought hard against adversity all season long, and the 84-82 overtime victory over No. 19 Seattle Pacific University (SPU) on Saturday, Feb. 6 was a testament to the Wolves’ season-long success.

In the Wolves’ first meeting against the Falcons in early January, SPU chipped away at Western’s double digit lead in the final minutes to push the game into overtime but the Wolves eventually overpowered the Falcons for the win. This time, it was Western who came back from a 14 point deficit to take the game into extra time, and the Wolves again found themselves victorious.

Redshirt senior Andy Avgi (F), the second leading scorer in the GNAC, had a game-high of 29 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the floor. Avgi was lights out from beyond the arch, shooting 5-for-7 from distance.

The Wolves had three other players hit the double digit mark in scoring. Senior Jordan Wiley (G) had 17 points, redshirt sophomore Tanner Omlid (G/F) had 16 points, and senior Julian Nichols (G) filled out the stat sheet with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal.

On their home court, Western jumped out to an early 19-12 lead on consecutive three-pointers from redshirt sophomore Alex Roth (G) and Avgi. But after the Wolves missed a few shots and the Falcons went on a scoring run, the point advantage switched to SPU.

SPU increased their lead late in the first half by hitting the long ball, shooting 7-for-10 from beyond the three-point line to take a 49-35 lead into half time.

In the second half, Western came out determined to get within striking distance. WOU forward Omlid scored seven points in the opening minutes of the second half on a 9-4 opening rally which brought the score to 44-51.

The Wolves spent the rest of the half chipping away at SPU’s lead, which the Falcons maintained all the way up until the end.

With less than one minute left to play, and the Falcons up 76-73, Avgi drained a clutch three-pointer to tie the score at 76-76 and sent the game to overtime.

In the five minute overtime period, Western put pressure on SPU by creating turnovers and never allowing the Falcons to take easy shots. Avgi, Wiley, Nichols, and Alexander all hit baskets in the overtime period to give the Wolves the 84-82 advantage.

The come-back victory improves the Wolves’ overall record to 20-2 and 13-1 in GNAC conference play. The overtime victory also brings the Wolves winning streak to a season-high 11 games.

On Wednesday, Feb. 9, it was announced that the Wolves moved into the No. 1 spot in Division II basketball. It is the first time in school history that Western has earned the top spot.

Up next, WOU hosts Simon Frasier University on Saturday, Feb. 13 in the armed forces and first responder appreciation night. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. in the New P.E. Building.

To tank or not to tank?

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

Before the start of the 2015-16 NBA season, most sports analysts thought that the Portland Trailblazers had no chance of making the playoffs. The Blazers dismantled last year’s team who had the talent to compete for a NBA Championship and decided to rebuild.

The heart and soul of last year’s team, LaMarcus Aldridge, decided to part ways with the organization in the offseason and sign with the San Antonio Spurs in his home state of Texas. As soon as it became clear that Aldridge was gone, Blazer’s general manager, Neil Olshey, cleared the deck with the team’s high paid veterans Nicolas Batum, Westley Mathews, and Robin Lopez.

After the massive turnover in free agency, the Blazers were left with their starting point guard, two-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard, and a bunch of young unproven players with high potential.

So, almost everyone, including myself, expected the Blazers to be in the hunt for a coveted ping-pong ball: a lottery pick in the upcoming draft.

But now, the Trailblazers find themselves in a very precarious situation: with a record of 24-26, the Blazers are currently the eighth seed in the Western Conference and would make the playoffs if the season ended today.

I believe that making the playoffs would be disastrous for the organization, and I think it would be best to tank the rest of the season. Yes, I am suggesting that dirty t-word.

Of course, coaches and players do not want to tank, but rather the decision is made by the front office. Loosing for players threatens millions of dollars if players are set to sign new contracts, and for coaches, a losing season can be a quick ticket to the unemployment line.

Tanking in today’s NBA landscape is common. Smaller market teams, like Portland, have a real problem getting high profile free agents to sign contracts in the offseason. That means the only way for smaller market teams to get talented players is through trades or through the draft.

If Portland does end up making the playoffs in the eighth seed, they would most likely be playing the Golden State Warriors (44-4) in the first round of a seven-game playoff series. So, could the Blazers somehow pull off the biggest upset in NBA history? No. There’s a better chance of hell freezing over.

Looking at the rest of the Western Conference I find it highly improbable that the Blazers could come out victorious against any of the teams ahead of them in the standings, with the exception of Houston (No. 7) or Dallas (No. 6).

As a longtime Blazers fanatic I am sick and tired of my team making the playoffs only to be eliminated in the first round. Sacrificing the rest of the season would give the Blazer’s the best chance in improving their talent for the future by building through the draft. That’s how Portland got Aldridge, Lillard, Greg “Glass Bones” Oden, and Brandon Roy.

With more than half the season in the books, the Blazers have surpassed most sports analyzers’ expectations and my own. The players and coaches should be proud, but the Blazers front office should make the decision to pull the plug on the season.

In an offseason press conference, Olshey said that he and Paul Allen, the Trailblazers owner, were not worried about the next five minutes, but rather the next five years. If that’s truly the case then tanking is their best option.

Revenge is a dish best served cold

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By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

As the men’s basketball team entered their home game on Saturday, Jan. 30 against Central Washington University (CWU), the New Year’s Eve loss to the Wildcats stuck in the back of their minds.

The Wildcats would later find out that revenge is a dish best served cold as the Wolves went on to defeat CWU 85-68.

Redshirt senior Andy Avgi (F), who last week earned his third GNAC Player of the Week honor of the 2015-16 season, had a game-high of 27 points. Avgi filled up the stat sheet with seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals.

Four other Wolves hit the double-digit mark in scoring: senior Devon Alexander (G) had 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, while Senior Julian Nichols (G), senior Jordan Wiley (G) and redshirt-sophomore Alex Roth (G) each had 10 points.

CWU came out firing on all cylinders after the opening tip, and had an 8-2 advantage early in the first half.
Western weathered the storm and closed in on the Wildcats lead by shooting high percentage shots in the paint. Alexander evened the score at 22-22 with a layup and would hit a free throw to give the Wolves a one-point advantage.

Western would finish the half up 38-29, their largest lead of the first half.

The momentum from the first half carried over into final period and the Wolves continued to build on their lead with hot shooting from Avgi and great team ball. With 9:12 remaining in the game, the Wolves increased their lead to 71-46 on an Alexander three-pointer.

The lead proved to be too large for the Wildcats to come back from and the Wolves cruised to victory. In the second half, the Wolves shot a blistering 0.643 percent from the floor including going 4-of-8 from beyond the arch.

Western held CWU to a field goal percentage of 0.356 from the floor and 0.308 from distance. The Wolves shot 0.579 (33-of-57) from the floor, finishing the game with their best shooting percentage of the year.

Equally impressive was the fact that the Wolves only coughed up five turnovers in the game, with four coming in the first half and only one in the final 20 minutes of the game.

The redemption victory improves Western’s overall record to 18-2 and 11-1 in GNAC conference play. With eight games remaining on their schedule, the Wolves find themselves in a very good position to make the College Basketball Division II playoffs.

Up next the Wolves hit the road to face Seattle Pacific University on Saturday, Feb. 6. The next home game is on Thursday, Feb. 11 against the Western Washington Vikings in the New P.E. Building.

Wolves fall short in crunch time

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

The women’s basketball team stormed north of the border to Burnaby, B.C., to face Simon Frasier University (SFU), on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016. After a highly contested battle, the Wolves fell short in the fourth quarter and were defeated 66-59.

Redshirt junior Kelsey Henry (F) led the Wolves in scoring coming off the bench with 8 points. Senior Emily Howey (C), freshman Kaylie Boschma (G) and freshman Ali Nelke (G/F) each tallied 7 points.

SFU jumped out to an early lead but a Howey layup gave the Wolves their first lead of the game at 6-5. The first quarter went back-and-forth with four lead changes and the Wolves found themselves up 18-17 at the end of the first quarter.

At the 7:24 mark of the second quarter, the Wolves got their largest lead of the night on a layup by sophomore guard Sydney Azorr; however, the Clan went on an 11 point unanswered run to take a 30-26 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the half.

The Wolves buckled down on defense and Nelke was unstoppable, hitting three consecutive buckets to give the Western a 32-30 lead going into half time.

The Clan pulled away from the Wolves late in the third quarter by shooting the deep ball, getting to the free throw line, and converting their free throws. Western came within three points of the lead halfway through the fourth quarter but that was the closest they would get.

WOU finished the game shooting 0.391 percent from the floor (18-of-46) and went 2-of-14 from long range. The Wolves out rebounded the Clan 37-25.

The loss brings the Wolves’ overall record to 3-17 and 2-10 in GNAC conference play.

Next up, Western will host the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. in the New P.E. Building. After the matchup with the Seawolves, the Wolves hit the road for their next four matchups before returning home for the final two games on their schedule.

Wolves welcome 28 student-athletes to the Pack

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

On Wednesday, Feb. 3, Western Oregon Universities’ head football coach Arne Ferguson announced 28 high school football players signed their letters of intent to join the team in the fall.

Out of the 28 new recruits, 16 are from Oregon and 5 are from Washington. The 2016 recruiting class also has highly touted high school players from Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Idaho.

“We are very happy with the kids that have committed to Western Oregon,” said Ferguson. “Our coaches put in the time and did a really good job recruiting players that will give us an opportunity to compete against the best teams in Division-II.”

At the Wolves’ National Signing Day event on Wednesday at Crush Wine Bar and Tasting Room, Ferguson talked about what traits and characteristics the coaching staff looks for in recruits.

“First of all, we look for a good student that’s motivated and driven,” said Ferguson. “Western Oregon does a good job recruiting student athletes who will work hard, learn, and get an education.”

“The second thing is that we are obligated to make sure that they will be successful in Division II football, and that’s not easy,” added Ferguson. “We want [the recruits] to be successful and we want them to be on the football field because we know that they all work very hard for the opportunity.”

“The last thing we look for is their leadership, being in a winning program and knowing the little things that matter in order to contribute to the team,” said Ferguson.

With the recent success of the program, Western Oregon has created a winning culture. “We have had ten winning seasons in a row and we have been second in about eight of those, so we are looking for those extra couple inches to push us over the edge,” said Ferguson.

The following is a list of the student-athletes who have committed to the program:

 

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School/Previous School
Malik Abdul-Haqq DB/WR 6-5 166 Seattle, Wash. / Cleveland
Curtis Anderson DB 6-2 180 Klamath Falls, Ore. / Mazama
Nick Bartel OL 6-5 295 Ferndale, Wash. / Ferndale
Taylor Bratton RB 6-2 205 Eugene, Ore. / Sheldon
Tyree Carson DB 5-11 175 Lynnwood, Wash. / Meadowdale
Cody Coppedge WR 6-3 175 West Linn, Ore. / West Linn
Nick Duckworth QB 6-6 230 Scottsdale, Ariz. / Notre Dame Prep / Ventura / Phoenix College
Tate Edmundson DL 6-2 320 Eugene, Ore. / Sheldon
Cody Ekwall TE 6-5 270 Grants Pass, Ore. / Grants Pass
Caden Finkley LB 6-1 245 Boise, Idaho / Bishop Kelly
Hunter Hickok LB/FB 6-2 250 Juneau, Alaska / Juneau-Douglas
Tamir Hill DB 5-10 175 Meridian, Idaho / Rocky Mountain
Wyatt Hutchinson QB 6-0 175 Clackamas, Ore. / Clackamas
Markus John DL 6-4 320 Salem, Ore. / West Salem
Hudson Kennedy OL 6-3 290 West Linn, Ore. / West Linn / College of the Siskiyous
Nathan Mahaffie LB 6-3 215 Eugene, Ore. / Sheldon
Blaise Manabe WR 5-9 175 Honolulu, Hawaii / Radford
Twister McComas DL 6-3 240 Banks, Ore / Banks
Chandler Obermire DL 6-2 228 Eugene, Ore. / Sheldon
Anthony Orlando OL 6-4 270 San Francisco, Calif. / Archbishop Riordan
Tayvis Passos OL 6-1 295 Honolulu, Hawaii / Radford
Jakob Pruitt OL 6-3 265 Beaverton, Ore. / Valley Catholic
Michael Pruitt DB 6-1 200 Ashland, Ore. / Ashland
Matthew Shouldis LB 6-3 200 Dayton, Ore. / Dayton
Bobi Sims WR 6-0 175 Kent, Wash. / Federal Way
Blake Walker QB 6-3 170 Hillsboro, Ore. / Liberty
Harrison White WR 6-1 167 Lynnwood, Wash. / Meadowdale
Evander Willingham TE/LB 6-4 225 Redmond, Ore. / Redmond

Crusaders topple Wolves in a hard-fought battle

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

The Western Oregon women’s basketball team fell at home to Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) 63-51 on Saturday, Jan. 23.

Freshman Natalie DeLonge (C) led the Wolves in scoring with 10 points, shooting 4-of-8 from the floor in just 19 minutes of play. Junior Jordan Mottershaw (G) and Michelle Bromagem (G) each tallied 8 points.

After NNU scored the first four points of the game, the Wolves pounced on the Crusaders by hitting two consecutive 3-pointers, one from Mottershaw and the other from Bromagem.

Building off the momentum from the deep ball, the Wolves held the lead throughout most of the first quarter by taking high percentage shots in the paint, but costly fouls and turnovers caused the score to be even at 14-14 by the end of the quarter.

In the remainder of the half, the Crusaders started hitting shots and creating turnovers, which proved to be one of the Wolves biggest problems of the night. By the half time whistle, Western had only added eight points and NNU’s lead ballooned to 36-22.

Although the Wolves found their shooting touch again in the second half, NNU kept hitting their shots. Every time the Wolves came close to bringing the score within single digits, the Crusaders would answer by creating turnovers or going on scoring runs.

With just under two minutes remaining in the game, Western brought the score to 51-60 off two made free throws from senior Emily Howey (C), but ultimately were unable to stop NNU in crunch time.

Western shot 15 of 50 from the floor including 5 of 15 from beyond the 3-point arch. The Wolves committed 24 turnovers that led to 28 Crusader points, and only created four points on NNU’s 15 turnovers. NNU also won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding WOU 38-34.

The Wolves hit 20 of 23 from the charity stripe and set a season-high free throw percentage of 0.870 percent, up from their season average of 0.679 percent.

The loss brings Western’s overall record to 3-15 and 2-8 in GNAC play.

Up next, the Wolves travel to British Columbia, Canada to take on Simon Frasier University on Saturday, Jan. 31.

The next home game is on Thursday, Feb. 4 against the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Tip-off is at 7 p.m., and the game is a pink-out, meaning fans are asked to wear pink in support of their team. Two days later, on Saturday, Feb. 6, the Wolves host the University of Alaska Anchorage also at 7 p.m. in the New P.E. Building.

Wolves jump to No. 1 in GNAC

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports editor

The No. 4 Wolves jumped to the top of the GNAC with two consecutive home victories. One over the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) on Thursday, Jan. 21 and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) on Saturday, Jan. 23.

The first match-up, against the UAA Seawolves, ended 76-66 in Western’s favor.

Redshirt-senior Andy Avgi (F) led all scorers with 31 points on 13-21 shooting from the floor, he also had 3 assists, 4 blocked shots and 2 steals. Senior Jordan Wiley (G) was the only other Western player to reach double digits, scoring 17 points. Wiley was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw stripe.

UAA came into the game ranked first in the GNAC with a conference record of 7-0; however, they had not yet played the red-hot Wolves. From the opening tip, the Wolves pressured UAA with stifling defense and held the Seawolves to 0.286 percent shooting in the first half.

The GNAC’s leading scorer, UAA guard Sekou Wiggs, was held to only 4 first half points, all of which came from the free throw line. The Wolves intensity and defensive prowess gave them a 33-23 advantage at the break.

In the second half, Wiggs and the rest of the Seawolves showed why they were undefeated in the conference. With seven minutes remaining for the game, UAA fought their way back and then took the lead when Wiggs hit a lay-up to give UAA a 60-57 advantage. Wiggs exploded with 22 second half points.

Although momentum had swung in UAA’s direction, the Wolves refused to give up. Senior Devon Alexander (G) hit a 3-pointer to even the game and then Avgi’s shot from beyond the arch gave Western the lead once again.

With 1:53 remaining in the game and the Wolves up 70-66, Western’s defense came up big again by holding UAA scoreless in the final two minutes.

On Saturday, the Wolves again found a way to come out victorious, defeating the UAF Nanooks 64-59.

Avgi again earned the game’s top scoring honors with 24 points; Wiley had 17 points and Alexander tallied 13 points.

Western struggled shooting the ball early in the first half, but with the Nanooks up by 5 points at the 9:37 mark, the Wolves began to light it up from a distance. Avgi hit two, Nichols hit one, and Wiley drained four 3-pointers to give the Wolves a 38-27 advantage going into half time.

The Wolves’ momentum carried over into the second half and they increased their lead to 47-31 with 15 minutes remaining for the game. UAF, who currently sits in third place in the GNAC, refused to back down and came within three points of the lead with 1:22 remaining.

An Avgi 3-pointer and a couple drained free throws from Nichols iced the game and proved to be too much for the Nanooks to come back from.

The two home victories improve the Wolves’ overall record to 16-2 and 9-1 in GNAC play.

Avgi’s phenomenal two games culminated his third GNAC Player of the Week award this season. Avgi, who was named to the Bevo Francis watch list last week, is currently ranked second in the GNAC in scoring (21.8 ppg), fourth in field goal percentage (58.2 percent), fourth in 3-point percentage (45.8 percent), and ninth in blocked shots (1.0).

Next, Western will look for revenge on Saturday, Jan. 30 when they host Central Washington University (CWU). The 77-81 loss to CWU on Dec. 31, 2015 is the Wolves only conference blemish.

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