Rachel Shelley Sports Editor
The men’s basketball team is currently on a four-game win streak, beating their most recent opponent, Academy of Art University (AAU) in San Francisco, Calif. 83-73 on Nov. 29.
The match-up between the Urban Knights concluded a three-game holiday road trip where the Wolves returned to Monmouth unbeaten. The game started off with a 10-0 lead for the Wolves after a pair of free throws by forward Lewis Thomas. Western increased their lead after guard Julian Nichols completed a fast break lay-in. The first half ended with the Wolves up 38-28.
The second half opened up with Western extending their lead to 16 with free throws from forward Andy Avgi. Guard Devon Alexander nailed a three pointer to take the Wolves to a 21-point lead. The Wolves went 6-for-6 from the free throw line during the final minutes, finishing with a victory of 83-73 securing a four game win streak before starting conference play.
“Our team has been very tough defensively,” said Head Coach Brady Bergeson. “We have found ways to make things hard for our opponents. Our goals for the games this week are no difference than they have been. We need to uphold our defensive standards and continue to progress offensively by sharing the ball and working for good shots.”
Nichols finished with a season and career-high 26 points and went 6-for-11 from the field and 13-for-14 from the free throw line. Three other Wolves were in double figures: Avgi, Thomas and forward Mawan Sarhan with 16, 12 and 12 points respectively. Avgi and Thomas tied with a team-leading and game-high seven rebounds. Nichols and guard Jordan Wiley each dished out four assists.
The team shot 49 percent from the field on 25-of-51, 30.8 percent on 4-of-13 from the three-point line and 87.9 percent from the free throw line with 29-of-33.
“We have a lot of talent returning from last year,” Alexander said. “There are high expectations. With that being said, we want to take it one game at a time and focus on our team’s trademarks. So far our strength is that we have at least five guys that can help us in scoring on any given night. We can be one of the top defensive teams in the country as well; we just have to prove that we are day in and day out.”
The Wolves play the next five games at home, two from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). The Wolves welcome University of Alaska Anchorage Saturday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m.
