Game notes ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Feb. 4) — Looking to avenge a road loss at Western Oregon University earlier this year, and to complete a sweep of Saint Martin's University, the Central Washington University men's basketball team welcomes the Wolves and Saints to Ellensburg this week.
Thursday night, CWU (12-5, 7-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) takes on the GNAC leader in Western Oregon (18-3, 10-1 GNAC), a team that is ranked No. 20 this week in the National Association of Basketball Coaches and 23rd in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) national polls. The Wolves are also third in the unofficial D2SIDA West Regional rankings this week.
WOU's top scorer is forward Andy Avgi, a GNAC co-Player of the Week this week. He's averaging 17.6 points per game, to go along with 5.5 rebounds. He's fifth in the league in field goal accuracy (59.6) and seventh from the free throw line (82.7), along with ranking ninth in steals (1.5) and 15th in blocked shots (0.6).
"They're really trying to go inside to Avgi, so he's seeing a lot of double teams," said CWU head coach
Greg Sparling about the Wolves' offense. "With those double teams, that opens up their shooters. The [Jordan] Wiley kid has been shooting it extremely well and their guards are running the club the right way."
Wiley is connecting of 46.4 percent of his three-point shots, fifth best in the GNAC. The WOU guards include Julian Nichols, who ranks fifth nationally among NCAA Division II players in assist/turnover ratio. He is averaging 3.37 assists for every miscue.
Nichols, who also ranks 11th in the nation at the free-throw line, is hitting on 90.9 percent of his shots from there this season. He connected on seven of eight free throws in the earlier meeting in Monmouth, Ore., including three of four in the final 13 seconds, which helped secure the victory for the Wolves, 78-74.
"It came down to one or two possessions and we were unfortunate that it came up on the wrong side of the column," Sparling recalled of that contest, against a team that he now says is, "arguably the hottest team in the GNAC."
Saturday, the Wildcats host Saint Martin's (6-15, 3-8 GNAC). CWU won earlier this season in Lacey 70-68, coming from 10 points down in the second half for the victory. The Saints are fresh off a home win last Saturday against Montana State University Billings.
"They definitely are getting better," Sparling acknowledged. "They're switching up their defenses and trying to keep people off tilt. They always play us tough and, against a team that can shoot it like they're capable of, you've got to know where all the shooters are at all times."
Freshman guard Trey Ingram is leading SMU, averaging 10.4 points and 3.8 assists per game. The Saints actually have 10 players averaging nearly 18 minutes, or more, each night. Among them is guard Isaac Bianchini, who is the GNAC leader in three-point percentage (50.7). Ingram is 10th in that category (42.5). They have combined to hit nearly 3.5 three pointers each game.
Both games this week are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion. In addition, on Thursday, CWU will honor its 2014 cross country team which advanced to the NCAA Division II national meet, and the volleyball squad, which was a West Region playoff participant, along with All-Americans Isaiah Davis, football; Catie Fry, volleyball; Connie Morgan, cross country; Haley Schafer, women's rugby; and Aladdin Shirmer, men's rugby.
Saturday's game will be Hawaiian Night, as all Wildcat fans are encouraged to come dressed in their aloha wear.
"I might break it out," Sparling said, with a chuckle, about the chance of him wearing a Hawaiian shirt on the bench at Saturday's game. "I'll have to get the iron out and iron that thing up. I think it might still be in the suitcase from when we were down in Hawaii."
