Sports – Page 64 – The Western Howl

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

Senior forward Andy Avgi can add another accomplishment to his collegiate career: the 2015-16 GNAC Player of the Year award.

On Tuesday, the conference passed out their honors for the season, and Avgi wasn’t the only Wolf to take home an award.

In his first year at the helm, head coach Jim Shaw was named the GNAC Coach of the Year. Senior Julian Nichols (G) and sophomore Tanner Omlid (G/F) also earned the All-GNAC second team honors and senior Jordan Wiley was named as an honorable mention.

The GNAC Player of the Year honor, voted on by the coaches in the conference, is Avgi’s second honor in as many years. This season, Avgi averaged 20.6 points per game, second best in the conference, and tallied 5.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in each outing.

“[Avgi] is our best player,” said Shaw. “He’s a hard worker and he’s got a great attitude, so he’s the definition of what you want out of your best player.”

What makes Avgi so dangerous to his opponents is his ability to hit shots from anywhere on the court. This season, the 6’5” forward hit 41 shots from distance, placing him 16th in the conference in three-pointers made and 16th in three-point percentage.

“I appreciate the honor, but it really comes down to my team,” said Avgi. “They honestly make me better. A lot of the stuff I can’t do by myself, and I know it’s an individual award, but to me it’s a team award.”

Speaking of team ball, Shaw’s Coach of the Year honor provides a testament to how he got his team to buy into his system in his first year as the Wolves’ head coach. Under Shaw’s leadership, the Wolves have remained in the top 25 rankings of Division II basketball for the entire season, peaking at No. 1 in the latter part of the season for the first time in school history.

To be recognized for their achievements is great for the players, but the Wolves want more: a shot at the Division II Championship.

The Western Howl

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Wolves bball hungry for more

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

The Wolves have chewed up and spit out their competition, dominating almost everyone in their path. With cohesive team play throughout the season and stellar work from the 2015-16 GNAC Player of the Year, Andy Avgi, the men’s basketball team claimed the GNAC title and is salivating at the potential of a deep post-season run.

“Our guys have done an incredible job accomplishing a lot of historical things this year,” said head coach Jim Shaw. “I’m really amazed at the level of consistency that this group has showed.”

Western finished the season with a record of 25-3 and 18-2 in GNAC conference play. With the regular season in the books, Coach Shaw reflected on the team’s accomplishments of the season.

“We are the first team in the GNAC to win 18 conference games,” Shaw said. “We are the second school in the northwest ranked No. 1 in the country for Division I and Division II basketball, and we went undefeated at home for the first time since the 94-95 season.”

All season long, the Wolves remained consistent, playing great team ball and tough defense. Western led the league in steals per game, had the best turnover margin, and had the best assists to turnover ratio.

Aside from playing stifling defense all season long, WOU has had one of the most consistent seasons statistically in the history of the program. The Wolves rank in the top half of almost every team statistic, but more importantly, the Wolves have found ways to squeak out victories in close games.

“Our guys play with confidence,” said Shaw. “That’s one of the reasons we have been so successful this season.”

Because Western finished the regular season at the top of the conference, they earn the No. 1 seed going into the GNAC tournament. Today, Western will face Seattle Pacific University at the Marcus Pavilion on the campus of Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington.

Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU

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Portland Timbers host Columbus Crew in home opener

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

It seemed like just yesterday that the Portland Timbers celebrated their 2015 MLS Championship victory, and a city starved for championship gold rejoiced. In the December rain, tens of thousands of Timber Army fanatics packed downtown Portland for the Timbers’ victory parade to celebrate with their team; they sang, they rejoiced, and they cried.

But that was last season. Now, just a short three months later, the Timbers have to start all over.

“I think the really simple mindset our group has is, ‘Last year is over,'” head coach Caleb Porter said in an interview with ESPN. “This is a new year. It has nothing to do with last year. Teams will be fighting it out with each other as always. There will be ups and downs. There will be wins and losses. It’s going to be a tough season like it is every single year for every single team.”

Fittingly enough, the Timbers’ first regular season matchup on Sunday pits the reigning champions against the same team they defeated 2-1 in the 2015 MLS Cup, the reigning Eastern Conference champs, Columbus Crew.

Sunday’s match will take place at Providence Park in Portland with a kickoff time of 1:30 p.m., and already days before the event, the city is buzzing with excitement.

While Portland kept most of their core players from last year’s championship team intact, they did lose 2015 starters Rodney Wallace and Jorge Villanfana as well as supporting players like fan-favorite Will Johnson and Spanish striker Maximiliano Urruti.

With Porter focusing on preparing his team for the home opener, Portland’s general manager, Gavin Wilkinson, has been wheeling and dealing in an attempt to add talent to the positional voids left from the departed players.

Wilkinson’s efforts have paid off and this year’s squad, at least on paper, looks stronger than last years with the additions of league veterans Ned Grabavoy, Chris Klute, Jack McInerney and Jermaine Taylor.

“We replaced everyone we lost,” Wilkinson said to ESPN. “We had identified the likely players that we were losing, and we had a depth chart in every position of who we wanted to go after. We knew what we had to spend and what profiles we were looking for. Our focus was to get MLS-proven players.”

The new players have had limited opportunities to play with the team in the preseason, and the biggest question going into opening night is how they will fit into the team, who last year had a special chemistry.

“They’ve proven they can win it — they now have the blueprint to do it,” Porter said to ESPN. “That means when you get in that position in the playoffs the next time, there’s a positive psychology that helps you to do it again.”

Can the Timbers repeat? After the offseason moves, are they more or less talented than they were last year? Will the team still have the special chemistry that they had last year? Hopefully we will find some answers Sunday.

Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU

The Western Howl

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Blazer come away on top at trade deadline

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

For the past few years, the NBA trade deadline has come and gone without any notable moves for the Portland Trail Blazers. This trade deadline was much different as Neil Olshey, the Blazer’s general manager, made a few moves that have left Blazer fans scratching their heads.

Fans who had hoped that the Blazers would add a marquee name or a crafty veteran to the roster might have been disappointed, but in the grand scheme of things, the moves the Blazer’s front office made were brilliant.

Here’s what went down: the Blazers negotiated a three team trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic in which Portland traded a 2020 second-round draft pick for Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao and a future 2018 first-round draft pick (protected 1-10).

Then, later in the day, it was announced that the Blazer’s acquired backup point guard Brian Roberts and a future second-round draft pick from the Miami Heat in exchange for cash considerations. To make room for Roberts, Portland had to waive backup point guard Tim Frazier.

“We went into the trade deadline trying to be opportunistic. We wanted to gather assets,” said Olshey to reporters after the two trades. “Clearly this group is really overachieving. There’s a lot of young guys that have a future. We wanted to make sure we were giving them a chance to win. We didn’t want to touch that core group of guys that have exceeded expectations.”

Just an hour after the Trail Blazers acquired 33 year-old Varejao, the team immediately waived him and his $9.6 million dollar salary. Portland was able to dump his contract because the team was so far under the salary cap minimum. Essentially, the Blazers gave up money to get a future first-round draft pick.

“Go back and look at the transaction record of other teams and look at what level of player they had to give up to acquire a first-round pick,” Olshey added. “We gave up cap room. I think it’s really sexy.”

The young Blazers have defied most sports analysts pre-season predictions and are currently in the sixth spot in the Western Conference with a record of 30-27. While the team arguably didn’t get much better now, the future draft picks provide hope for the future.

This was possibly the best trade deadline move in the history of the Blazers franchise. Portland kept its young core of players together, acquired future assets, and most importantly sent a message to all the Blazer fans: “We want to win.” Bravo.

Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU

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Wolves shine with 4 wins

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

The change in the season from winter to spring, marks the beginning of softball season, and for the Wolves, the beginning of the season has been a flurry of activity.

WOU entered the West Texas A&M Lady Buff Invite Tournament on Friday, Feb. 19 with a record of 3-6, playing four games the first weekend and five the next.

The West Texas Tournament was by far the biggest test for Western in their young season; which required the Wolves to play two games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday against different opponents.

The first double header pitted the Wolves against Newman University. Western swept the Jets, winning 2-0 in their first game and 4-3 in their second. Junior Destiny Kuehl (3B) scored both of Western’s runs in the first game, batting a perfect 3-for-3. In the second game, junior Kelsie Gardner (2B) scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to clinch the victory.

On the second day of the West Texas Invite, the Wolves played against the home team: West Texas A&M. Western dropped their first game against the Buffs by a score of 9-1 and also loss their second game of the double header 6-7.

WOU got back on track on Sunday with a dominating performance in their double header against Lincoln University of Missouri. The Wolves won their first game against the Blue Tigers with a score of 9-1 and finished the second up 10-1. In the first game, freshman pitcher Haley Fabian, had a brilliant five inning performance, only allowing one hit while striking out three.

In the second game against the Blue Tigers, Gardner had three hits and Kuehl had three RBIs, but the entire team either had a hit, scored or had an RBI.

When the dust settled from the flurry of six games in three days, the Wolves found themselves with a 4-2 record in the tournament and improved their overall record to 7-8.

Western begins their GNAC conference schedule on March 5 with a double header against Saint Martin’s University. The first game starts 12 p.m. and the second is at 2 p.m. at the WOU Softball Field.

Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsports

The Western Howl

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Wolves hurdle over GNAC opponents

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

The Western Oregon track and field team traveled to Nampa, Idaho on Friday, Feb. 19 to compete in the GNAC Indoor Championships, an event spanning both Friday and Saturday.

The men finished second place in the team race, behind the University of Alaska Anchorage, with a combined total of 93 points. The women finished the Championships in eighth place by accumulating 29 points.

On Friday, during the preliminaries, sophomore sprinter Cody Warner got Western off to a great start by finishing in first place in the 200-meter with a time of 21.89. Then on Saturday, Warner followed up his triumphant performance the day before with an even better time of 21.78 which earned the sprinter a league title in the 200-meter.

Warner also came in second in the 60-meter sprint with a time of 6.95.

Sophomore David Ribich, who set the Western Oregon school record for the fastest time in the mile the previous weekend at the Husky Classic, was edged in a photo-finish. Ribich finished in second place with a time of 4:10.14.

On the final day of competition, the men’s squad had seven athletes finish in top-three spots. In the 60-meter hurdles, sophomore Kaleb Dobson followed up his record-setting performance last weekend in the Husky Classic with a time of 8.33 which earned him second place.

As for the women, senior Emmi Collier got second place in the shot put with a distance of 14.38-meters, and senior Stephanie Stuckey finished fifth in the mile run with a time of 5:08.05.

Freshman Olivia Woods broke the Western Oregon’s school record in the 400-meter during the Friday preliminaries with a time of 57.54 which slotted her into sixth place. Woods went on to finish seventh in the final on Saturday.

Next up, on Saturday, Feb. 27, the Wolves look to make an impact at the Seattle Pacific Final Qualifier.

Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU

The Western Howl

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We are the Champions

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

The men’s basketball team had something to prove going into their matchup with the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 after a Tuesday loss to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, which was their third loss of the season.

Western rebounded from their loss and defeated the Seawolves 64-58. The close-fought victory improves the Wolves’ overall record to 23-3 and 16-2 in GNAC conference play.

More importantly, the win seals the team’s first goal: winning the GNAC Regular-Season Championship.

Senior Julian Nichols (G) led the Wolves in scoring with 17 points. Nichols flirted with a triple-double but finished just short with seven assists and seven rebounds.

Three other Wolves scored in double figures: senior Devon Alexander (G) had 14 points, redshirt sophomore Tanner Omlid (G/F) had 12 points, and the 2015 GNAC Player of the Year, redshirt senior Andy Avgi, had 11 points on a tough shooting night.

Western came out firing on all cylinders from the opening tip, scoring the first eight points of the game on consecutive three-pointers from senior Jordan Wiley (G) and Omlid, followed by a fast-break layup courtesy of Nichols.

Westerns’ lead was short lived as the Seawolves started draining shots from distance and the Wolves hit a dry spell. After an Avgi layup made the score 16-11 with the advantage to the Wolves, Western failed to score in just over five minutes of play and UAA took a 17-16 lead.

Head coach Jim Shaw, unhappy with the Wolves’ inability to score, called a timeout and regrouped his troops. Just seconds out of the timeout, junior Janvier Alaby (G) broke the Wolves’ scoring drought by scoring 4 points off of a much-needed jumper and draining two free throws, but the Seawolves would still take a 26-23 lead into halftime.

The second half went back-and-forth with both teams fighting for every point. The game was so closely contested; there were 16 lead changes with 10 coming in the second half.

With 2:37 seconds remaining in the game and UAA up 56-52, Western buckled down on defense and showed why they are the No. 1 team in Division II basketball, only allowing the Seawolves two points in the final two minutes of regulation.

In the final two minutes, Wiley and Alexander both drained the deep ball and Nichols hit four clutch free throws to give the Wolves a 64-58 lead, the largest lead by either team in the game.

Before the start of the week Western looked like the consensus No. 1 seed going into the Division II playoffs, but Tuesday’s loss to Alaska Fairbanks puts the top seed in jeopardy. Regardless, the Wolves will be in a great position for a deep playoff run.

Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU

Western Oregon University’s Land Acknowledgement
Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

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WOU prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in all programs, activities and employment practices as required by Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited by WOU.

Avgi and Shaw get highest GNAC honors

Wolves bball hungry for more

Portland Timbers host Columbus Crew in home opener

Blazer come away on top at trade deadline

Wolves shine with 4 wins

Wolves hurdle over GNAC opponents

We are the Champions

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