Men's Basketball: Wolves Await Warriors

The game between the Wolves and the Warriors can be heard in the Salem-area on 1220 KCCS AM.

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MONMOUTH - Nearly two weeks after its last exhibition game, Western Oregon finally opened up the regular season this past weekend at the Mac Martin Invitational in Chico, Calif.

The Wolves showed plenty of rust in the classic opener, falling to the host Wildcats 83-54, but then nearly stunned No. 6 nationally ranked Humboldt State on Saturday, eventually falling 89-82.

Hurry Up And Wait:

The Wolves will now go another batch of time without a game, before taking on Corban College on Tuesday, Dec. 5th.

The non-conference clash with the former Cascade Conference rival Warriors will tip-off at 7:30 PM, at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem.

Corban Clips:

The Warriors are off to a rough start in the post-Eric Fiegi era, showing a 1-7 overall record before they begin Cascade Conference play this coming weekend at Southern Oregon (Friday) and Oregon Tech (Saturday).

Fiegi, the nation’s leading scorer (NAIA) last season at 30.4 points a game, left the Warrior program as its all-time leading point producer.

Corban has struggled to find his replacement, and lost its top five scorers from last season as well. Their lone win was an 85-71 decision over Whitman. A

pair of sophomores lead the team in scoring, with Wade Douglas bringing 12.7 points a game and Dallas native Jason Braun adding 11.6.

The Wolves and Warriors have not met since 2003, and Western Oregon holds a 43-24 all-time edge in the series.

Mentions for Mitchell:

WOU senior post Jacob Mitchell (6-7, 235) earned Mac Martin Invitational all-tournament honors for his play in Chico.

He finished with 46 points and 12 rebounds in the two games, including a career-best 28-point output in the near upset of Humboldt State. He connected on 20 of his 33 shots from the field.

Night And Day:

The Wolves looked like two different teams on successive nights in Chico.

The Wolves were ice cold in the first half in the loss to Chico State, scoring only 11 points in the first half and hitting just 5 of 22 shots from the floor.

They were also 0-7 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes and one of five from the free throw line. The next night against Humboldt State, the Wolves jumped out to a 13-0 lead and also had a 17-point margin (26-9) with 10:30 to go in the first half.

The Wolves hit 10 of 25 treys on the evening, but only got to the free throw line eight times, compared to 42 for the Lumberjacks. Junior Ryan Schmidt (6-7, 210) hit five of six treys and finished with 23 points, while junior guard Brad Krichevsky (5-9, 175) nailed four of eight shots from behind the arch.

Craig on Chico tournament:

“We had a meltdown half against Chico, and were playing a team that had just lost two games, so they had a sense of urgency.

It was an ugly game, with a combined 55 turnovers between us. We fell apart when guys tried to fix things themselves, straying away from the team concept. We were much better obviously the next night against Humboldt.

They are a very good team, but we of course know them very well. We showed some fight, that was good. We need to get a little better production off the bench, but I was pleased with our improvements in most aspects of the game.”

Probable Starters:

F- 24 Jacob Mitchell (6-7, 235, Sr., Olympia, Wash.)

F- 30 Travis Kuhns (6-8, 200, So., Salem, Ore.)

F- 33 Ryan Schmidt (6-7, 210, Jr., Keizer, Ore.)

G- 5 Alex Swerzbin (6-0, 190, Sr., Portland, Ore.)

G- 20 Dominque DeWeese (6-3, 175, Sr., Portland, Ore.) or

G- 12 Brad Krichevsky (5-9, 175, Jr., Beaverton, Ore.)

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