On a weekend where the Wolves did almost everything, including senior guard Kevin Tyner taking over the all-time assists mark at Western, the team played hard but failed to win.This past Thursday, Feb. 2, Western lost a heartbreaker at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, 80-75. Then Saturday, the Wolves were thumped by the Redhawks of Seattle Pacific, 94-79. The two losses moved Western to 7-13 on the year and 2-9 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) action. Seattle Pacific, ranked fifth in the country, improved to 18-2 and 10-1 in the GNAC.Tyner broke the mark of Matt Jones, who starred at Western from 1994-97. Jones' record-assist total of 560 was passed early in the second half of the game Saturday against Seattle Pacific. Next on the list for Tyner is the all-time conference record held by Humboldt State's Mark White with 594.The significance of Tyner's new mark was not lost on first-year Head Coach Craig Stanger."Kevin Tyner is a great player and is an essential part to this team," Stanger said. "I have had the opportunity to work with him the past four years and have never met a harder-working player. He is a joy to watch. We now have only five home games remaining this season. For those who have not seen Kevin play, they should definitely not miss these last few. He is always wanting to help those around him and wants to do whatever he can to help us win."The Redhawks were in control of Saturday's game nearly from the start. After both teams traded baskets, the score ballooned to 36-24 in favor of the home team before Western was able to cut the lead down to nine at the half.Western came out hard in the second half, led by sophomore forward Stanley Ratliff, who had two points, two offensive rebounds and an assist in a four-minute span to cut the lead to 49-47. But Western would never get any closer.Western had five players in double figures, led by junior center J.T. Mitchell's 17 points and nine rebounds. Ratliff had a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards, while freshman forward Travis Kuhns added 14. Junior guard Larry Hall finished with 11 points and Tyner had 10 points to go with his six assists.Stanger was especially pleased with the production out of Mitchell for both games. Mitchell is in his first year at Western after transferring from Pierce College."Besides Kevin Tyner, J.T. Mitchell has been steadily improving and providing a consistent inside scoring threat," Stanger explained. "He posted 20 and 17 points this past weekend while bringing down 17 rebounds. He should prove to be a solid force for us next year as well."Thursday night's game was against Western's former head coach Tim Hills, who is in his first year at NNU. This game brought out extra emotion from Tyner, who was recruited by Hills.The Crusaders of Northwest Nazarene came out hard and took a commanding 13-3 lead after a lay-up by Marcus Clift. A 30-second timeout woke up the sleeping Wolves and Tyner, who finished the first half with 10 points. Western trailed by 15 with 5:36 to play when Tyner got hot and scored 17 of the final 21 points for the Wolves, including all of Western's points in the final 3:10.Tyner finished with 38 points in the game. He was 14 of 22 from the field, four of eight from three-point range, and six of nine at the free throw line."Tyner is a special player and you got to see that tonight," Hills said. "Having coached Kevin at Western Oregon, he's the quickest player off the dribble I've ever coached, and with 33 years in the business, I'm not kidding."Western returns to action against Humboldt State on Saturday night, Feb. 11, in the New PE Building at 7 p.m.The Runnin' Wolves lost to Humboldt State 94-64 in Arcata, Calif., back on Jan. 14, but Stanger expects his team to show more progression this time around."Wins have been difficult to come by this year, but we are working hard and are improving each game," Stanger said. "We had many new faces this year and it takes time to get teams to work together in a seamless manner. Many teams in the league are veteran groups (Seattle Pacific especially, hence the No. 5 national ranking), yet we are confident we can play with anyone."
