Western Oregon Men Travel to Seattle; Home to Seattle Pacific

WOU came oh-so-close to a rare Alaska sweep in games in Anchorage and Fairbanks last weekend.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

MONMOUTH - The Wolves will face two teams that are certainly in playoff contention, one on the road and one at home this week.

Seattle is first, ranked fourth in last week’s west region poll, although a 24-point loss at Seattle Pacific will likely mean a slight drop for them when this week’s poll comes out.

The Redhawks began the season 7-1, but have since played .500 basketball in compiling a 12-7 record and 4-4 mark in the GNAC.

Seattle ranks second in the league in defense, giving up only 70 points a game, and they lead the GNAC in steals per contest with 8.58.

Senior guard Sam Kirby leads a balanced Redhawk attack with 14.6 points a game, while Leigh Swanson (So., 6-8) adds 12.7 points a game. 6-11 senior David White scores 9.9 a game and has a team-best 7.1 rebounds, and Ryan Webb (Sr., 6-1) brings 9.5 points and 7.1 assists a contest.

Seattle has won the last three games between the two schools, but WOU leads the all-time series, 15-8.

Seattle Pacific won big at home twice last week, drilling the Redhawks (98-74) and Northwest Nazarene (88-70).

The Falcons shot 61 percent from the floor in their two wins in moving into the GNAC lead.

SPU is a sterling 10-0 at home this year, which includes an 86-74 win over WOU, but are just 3-4 on the road.

’06 first team All-GNAC pick Dustin Bremerman (Sr., 6-4) leads the Falcons with 18.2 points a game, while 6-10 Rob Will adds 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds.

SPU has won the last four games played against the Wolves, and leads the all-time series 25-12.

Thursday, Western Oregon (7-13/2-7 GNAC) @ Seattle (12-7/4-4 GNAC), Connolly Center, 7:30 PM.

Saturday, Western Oregon vs. Seattle Pacific (14-7/7-3 GNAC), Monmouth, Physical Education Building, 7:00 PM.

Seawolf Stunner:

Coach Craig Stanger’s squad came oh-so-close to a rare Alaska sweep in games in Anchorage and Fairbanks last weekend.

Thursday’s stunner against the Seawolves (81-73) showed a 29-point turnaround from when the two teams met just two weeks previous—in Monmouth.

The Wolves were shut down in that contest by UAA 70-49, but reversed the outcome at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, a place where the Seawolves had lost only one other GNAC game all season.

The win was only the second all season on the road for WOU.

Nanook Near Miss:

Kenny Barker’s three-pointer with just ticks remaining on the clock allowed Alaska Fairbanks to escape with a 79-76 win over the Wolves on Saturday.

In a game that featured 13 ties, Barker broke the final one with his trey during a wild contest.

The Wolves shot extremely well in the cold confines of both Alaska sites, shooting 60 percent from the field against the Nanooks and 56 percent at Anchorage.

Kuhns Clips:

Sophomore forward Travis Kuhns had a stellar weekend, scoring a total of 40 points with 18 rebounds and eight blocked shots in the two games.

The Sprague HS (Salem) grad hit 12 of his 18 shots from the floor, including 3 of 5 from three-point range.

GNAC Update:

Saint Martin’s dropped both games last weekend in Alaska, allowing Seattle Pacific to move into the top spot in the GNAC.

The Falcons hold a half-game lead on the Saints and Alaska Fairbanks, in a very tight race where no more than 1.5 games separate the top five teams.

GNAC Games This Week:

Thursday: Alaska Fairbanks at Alaska Anchorage (Wednesday), Western Oregon at Seattle, Western Washington at Saint Martin’s, Central Washington at Seattle Pacific.

By The Numbers:

WOU’s Jacob Mitchell leads the Wolves with a 16.9 scoring average and 6.2 rebounds a game.

He posted a season-best 33 counters against Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 16th. He is shooting 59 percent from the field.

Ryan Schmidt (6-7, 210), a junior transfer from Hawaii, adds 14.3 ppg. He is shooting .422 from three-point range.

He had a season-high 39 points in four overtimes against Cal State Monterey Bay.

Sophomore Travis Kuhns (6-8, 200) averages 10.3 points an outing and 5.5 rebounds and also has 26 steals and 25 blocked shots, while senior point guard Alex Swerzbin (6-0, 190) is averaging 8.6 points and 4.7 assists.

The Hawaii Pacific transfer has been in double figure assist totals twice this season, and has converted 46 of his 50 free throw attempts (.920). He has missed only one free throw in GNAC play this year (26-27).

Dominique DeWeese posts 6.7 points a game and is third on the team in steals with 20.
Probable Starters:

• C- 24 Jacob Mitchell (6-7, 235, Sr., Olympia, Wash.)
• F- 30 Travis Kuhns (6-8, 200, So., Salem, Ore.)
• G- 5 Alex Swerzbin (6-0, 190, Sr., Portland, Ore.)
• G- 20 Dominque DeWeese (6-3, 175, Sr., Portland, Ore.)
• G- 22 Larry Hall (6-2, 185, Sr., Long Beach, Calif.) or
• F- 3 Ryan Schmidt (6-7, 210, Jr., Keizer, Ore.)

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