By: Burke​ ​De​ ​Boer
Sports​ ​Editor

Men’s basketball clinched a spot in the GNAC Championship tournament after a triumphant week in Monmouth.

The Wolves beat two conference rivals, first topping Alaska 68-61 and then Alaska Anchorage 89-71.

The seven point win over the Nanooks came as the result of a powerful second-half performance. After trailing by as much as seven in the first half, the Wolves regrouped. They came out the second half down by five. The Wolves took the lead with a three pointer by JJ Chirnside at 13:45.

Sophomore guard Malik Leaks scored a game-high 17 points, his most points scored in the season.

The Saturday game saw the Wolves take the lead with the opening basket and never give it up.

The 89-71 win over Alaska Anchorage featured four Wolves with double-digit points: Ali Faruq-Bey scored 22, Tanner Omlid scored 19, JJ Chirnside scored 10 and Demetrius Trammel contributed 11 points off the bench.

The high powered win moved the Wolves within one game of Alaska Anchorage’s second-place seed in the Championship.

The last game of the regular season is against MSU Billings on Feb. 25 in the New P.E. Building. The game tips off at 7 p.m.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu