Thursday, March 2, 2017

LACEY, Wash. – What started out as a close, physical contest proved to be Western Oregon’s for the taking late as the No. 3 seeded Wolves dispatched No. 6 seeded Montana State Billings, 72-61, in the quarterfinals of the GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships at Marcus Pavilion.

The defending tournament champions were led by First Team All-GNAC forward Tanner Omlid, who finished with a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds. He scored 17 of his points in the second half on a night where he went 7 of 7 from the free throw line. Evan Garrison added 15 points, 13 of which came in the first half. Ali Faruq-Bey also had 15 points in the win.

Junior forward Kamal Tall led four Montana State Billings players in double figures with 16 points, connecting on 6 of 10 from the field. Marc Matthews finished just short of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Jace Anderson connected for 13 points and First Team All-GNAC selection Preston Beverly finished with 10.

With the win, the Wolves (17-12) will advance to a semifinal with No. 2 seeded Alaska Anchorage on Friday at 5:15 p.m. The Yellowjackets finished their season at 14-15 overall.

The physical nature of the game was clear early as 22 fouls were called between the two teams in the first 20 minutes. That kept the score close as well with four times and three lead changes in the period. Garrison gave the Wolves a five-point advanrage when his lay-up made it 14-9 just over six minutes into the contest. The Yellowjackets brought the game back within one on Anderson’s lay-up at the 12:38 mark.

Neither team led by more than four points for the next seven minutes until Demetrius Trammell turned a long rebound into a three-pointer with 5:27 left to put WOU back ahead 28-23. The Yellowjackets cut the lead back to one on Kendall Denham’s lay-in with a minute left before JJ Chirnside scored a lay-up of his own on the Wolves’ next possession to give his team a 32-29 halftime lead. Garrison scored 13 points for the Wolves in the half, going 5 of 7 from the field, while Tall scored nine for Montana State Billings.

The second half started as a close affair until Isaiah Edwards’ lay-in started an 8-2 run for the Wolves, which ended on a Faruq-Bey lay-up at the 12:17 mark that WOU up 46-38. The Yellowjackets brought the deficit back to within four on Matthews’ lay-in with just over 11 minutes to go, but back-to-back buckets by Omlid extended the lead back to 51-42 at the midway mark of the second half.

Montana State Billings hung around until a pair of Omlid free throws started a 17-12 run for the Wolves over the final five minutes to close out the game, with WOU building the 15-point lead with under a minute left.

RECORD WATCH: Western Oregon players tied two GNAC Championships single game records. Omlid tied the tournament single game record with four steals, a mark held with five others players. The most recent was Suki Woggs of Alaska Anchorage against Western Washington last year. In addition, Trammell tied the blocked shots record with his four, matching a mark held with two other players. The most recent was Alex Birketoft of Northwest nazarene vs. Central Washington in 2015.