A12
Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 24, 2018
WESTERN OREGON BASKETBALL
WOU men’s hoops win
By Mark Schwartz
For the Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Ninth-
ranked Western Oregon Uni-
versity Wolves men’s basket-
ball team beat the Northwest
Nazarene Nighthawks 82-64
in a Great Northwest Athletic
Conference contest at home
on Saturday night.
The Wolves won their 10th
straight game to bring their
record to 17-1, 9-1 GNAC. The
Nighthawks fell to 9-5, 5-5
GNAC.
The Nighthawks came into
Saturday’s game off a 69-64
road win against Concor-
dia in Portland on Jan. 18.
On this night, however, the
Nighthawks’ united nations
couldn’t overcome the pre-
cision of a Wolves team that
forged ahead after five min-
utes and never looked back.
The game was tied at five
after two and a half minutes
and then the Wolves started
out-hustling and outscoring
the Nighthawks. The score at
halftime was 41-28, and the
Wolves were on their way to
a hard-fought victory which
wasn’t reflected in the final
score.
Senior forward JJ Chirnside
lead the balanced scoring
for Western Oregon with
18 points in 21 minutes, his
second consecutive game
with 18 career-high points.
Wolves players hitting double
figures included senior guard
Ali Faruq-Bey (13 points on 4
of 14 shooting from the field,
3 of 9 from the three-point
line, and 2 of 4 free throws
in 24 minutes); senior guard
Dustin Triano (12 points on
4 of 6 shooting from the field,
3 of 5 three-pointers, and 1-1
for free throws in 22 minutes
off the bench); senior guard
Malik Morgan (11 points in 24
minutes); and senior forward
Tanner Omlid (10 points in 26
minutes).
The Nighthawks were led
by Megwa with 22 points
(8/21 from the field and 0-2
on three-pointers) and 5 re-
Dallas
Continued from Page A10
Central, both ranked in the top
five in the state.
The Dragons (7-6 overall,
1-3 MWC) stayed close early,
trailing Lebanon 14-10 after
the first quarter, but saw the
Warriors take over in the sec-
ond quarter to go into half time
with a 32-14 lead. Ehlers said
Lebanon took advantage of
Dallas’ lack of length.
“They have a 6’1 post who is
pretty solid,” Ehlers said. “It’s
hard when you are 5’8 and 5’9
to really front that girl.”
Dallas came out for the sec-
ond half ready to play and used
hustle and a three-point shoot-
ing run to draw within 11 in
the third quarter but couldn’t
get closer.
Ehlers said his team played
well in stretches, especially
in the first and third quarters.
Dippel led the team in scoring
with 15, and Emma Clas-
sen put in 10. He added the
Dragons committed too many
turnovers with 24 in the game.
Lebanon also outrounded Dal-
las 38 to 20.
“In the third quarter, we had
a little three-point barrage, but
eventually that little faucet gets
turned off because you can’t
make them all night long,”
Ehlers said.
He said the team, which is
missing two rotation players to
injury, needs to prevent teams
from racing to a lead early in
games.
“It been our biggest down-
fall in our losses is that we’ve
gotten behind quickly, and we
are having to fight to get back
in the game. You are working
twice as hard all night long just
to get back in the game,” he
said. “We just have to get back,
focus, work hard. The girls did
really well for two quarters. I
think they understood that if
we play those two quarters for
four quarters then wins will
come.”
The schedule doesn’t get
easier. Wednesday, Dallas
plays Central (13-1 overall, 4-0
MWC) at home. The Panthers
only loss this season was at
Stayton. Ehlers said that, like
Lebanon, Central’s lineup fea-
tures tall post players.
“We need to figure out how
to get up in the game and make
the other team have to work
harder to get back in the game,”
Ehlers said. “They only play
about seven deep, but those
seven are really good. There’s
really no let off.”
DALLAS ROUNDUP
style relays (Hans Garrison,
Dallas swimmers
Isaiah Dressel Jakob Lloyd and
place at Taft meet Gabe Applegate) both took
Itemizer-Observer staff report
Chris Oertell/for the Itemizer-Observer
Darius Lubom lays up against Montana State University, Billings.
bounds in his 28 minutes. As a
team, the Nighthawks shot 35
percent from the field.
The Wolves’ next game will
be on the road on Thursday
25 in Fairbanks against the
Huskies. The Wolves next
home game will be on Jan.
30 when they face Concordia
University. The Wolves haven’t
lost since Dec. 2 at Western
Washington.
WOLVES WIN THURSDAY:
Overcoming a slow start, WOU
men’s basketball defeated
Central Washington 89-70
victory on Thursday. Shooting
8-of-12 from the field and
reaching 20 points for the
second straight game, WOU’s
Tanner Omlid led all scorers
with 21 points. J.J. Chirnside
scored a career-best 18 points.
WOMEN WIN ONE, LOSE ONE:
Western Oregon women’s
basketball team outscored
Concordia 25-11, in the final
quarter of the Jan. 16 home
game to earn the victory. Sa-
vannah Heugly and Sydney
Azorr each scored 15 points to
share game-high honors. Azorr
helped seal the game with
three makes at the line after
being fouled from beyond the
arc with just under two min-
utes to play. Montana State
University Billings used a 12-2
run to start the fourth en route
to a 65-56 win at Western Or-
egon University on Thursday
evening. The Wolves are now
8-8, 4-6 GNAC.
TAFT — The Dallas High
School swim team had several
placers in the Taft Invitational
on Thursday, leading the team
to a third-place finish at the
meet.
The boys 200 and 400 free-
third place.
Applegate took third in the
200 freestyle in two minutes,
43.29 seconds. Dressel took
second in the 50 freestyle
in 30.19 seconds, and Lloyd
placed third in the 50 freestyle
in 30.82 seconds.
[ SEE MORE ROUNDUPS, PAGE A8 ]
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