By: Jamal Smith Sports Editor
The Western Oregon men’s basketball team achieved a much needed road victory against the Western Washington University (WWU) Vikings 78-58 on Saturday, Jan. 16.
Redshirt senior Andy Avgi (F), who was just named to the Bevo Francis Award Watch List, had a game-high 19 points on 7-14 shooting from the floor. Redshirt sophomore Alex Roth (G) had 18 points on a very productive 7-10 shooting night, 11 of his 18 points coming in the first half. Senior Julian Nichols (G) had 15 points, 7 assists and 2 steals.
The Wolves opened the game in dominating fashion, going on a 10-1 run with the help of 3-pointers from Avgi and Roth. The Vikings, however, would get right back into the game and even the score at 18-18 with just 10 minutes remaining until half time.
For the remainder of the first half, neither team could build and sustain a lead. With WWU up 33-32 and just a minute remaining in the first half, Avgi went to the free throw line and hit both shots to give Western a one point lead going into the break.
In the first half, the Wolves shot 0.406 from the floor on 13-32 shooting and 0.364 from beyond the arch on 4-11 shooting.
After halftime, Western came out with a greater sense of urgency and found consistency on both sides of the ball. The Wolves scored the first 8 points of the second half on an Avgi layup and consecutive 3-pointers by Nichols and senior Jordan Wiley (G).
Better second half shooting at stifling defense proved to be too much for the Vikings to handle. Western’s 20 point advantage to finish the game was their largest lead of the night.
Western held almost every statistical advantage over the Vikings. The Wolves out-rebounded WWU 36-29 overall and held a 9-7 advantage on the offensive glass. Although the Wolves coughed up 11 turnovers, they created 13 turnovers from their opponents.
WOU’s red-hot shooting in the second half brought the Wolves’ field goal percentage to 0.483 from the floor and 0.455 from distance. Equally impressive is the defense Western played on WWU top two leading scorers who were held to just 11 combined points despite averaging 35.9 points per game for this season.
