Western Oregon Men Shock No. 7 Seattle, 69-67

Down 25-5 early, Wolves rally for 69-67 win on Kuhns winner with eight seconds left.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

SEATTLE, Wash. - Western Oregon overcame a 20-point first half deficit, winning on a driving lay-up by Travis Kuhns with eight seconds left to stun host Seattle in a 69-67 men’s basketball game on Thursday night at the Connelly Center.

Kuhns game-winner gave the Wolves a lead for only the second time all night.

Mike Boxley’s shot with four seconds left did not go for Seattle and the Wolves left with the upset win.

The win improved Western Oregon’s record to 8-13 on the season and to 3-7 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Seattle, ranked seventh in the latest NCAA Division II west region poll, dropped to 12-8 on the season and to 4-5 in the GNAC.

Kuhns led the Wolves with 18 points, while Jacob Mitchell added 13 and seven rebounds.

Larry Hall was also in double figures with 11 and Dominque DeWeese had 10.

Seattle’s Leigh Swanson led all players with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Sam Kirby added 16 for the Redhawks.

Seattle jumped out to a 14-1 lead three and a half minutes into the contest, and held a 20-point margin (25-5) at the 13:30 mark.

The Redhawks still led 30-12 a few minutes later, but the Wolves then went on a 16-0 run to climb back into contention (30-28). Seattle held a slight 34-31 lead at the half.

The teams stayed close in the second half. But even though there were eight ties, Western Oregon did not get their first lead until Alex Swerbin’s lay-up with 4:22 left (67-65).

Surprisingly, neither team would score for close to four minutes, until Ryan Webb hit a pair of free throws for the Redhawks with 36 seconds left.

The Wolves now return home to take on another regionally ranked team, hosting No. 5 Seattle Pacific on Saturday.

Start time is 7:00 PM.

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