ELLENSBURG (Nov. 19) -- Junior JC Cook (Canby, Ore.) led five Central Washington players in double figures with 25 points as the Wildcat men's basketball team defeated visiting Portland Bible College, 99-84, in its season opener at Nicholson Pavilion on Thursday night.

Central Washington is 1-0, while Portland Bible, a third-year program that competes as a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), fell to 6-3 overall.

Cook and Roby Clyde (Connell/Pasco HS) were Central's most efficient shooters on Thursday, with Cook making 10 of 17 field-goal attempts in his first regular-season game and Clyde going 5 for 6 from the floor. Clyde, who totaled 14 points, also led all players with 11 rebounds as CWU outrebounded Portland Bible by a 45-33 count including 26 offensive boards.

There were three first-half lead changes between the two schools, although the score was never tied. Central took its first lead 28 seconds into the game at 3-2, and used a 10-0 run starting less than a minute later to forge ahead 13-5 and never look back.

Portland Bible stayed within striking range of Central's Division II Wildcats, trailing by 20 just once in the game -- at 65-45 with 13:40 remaining. In fact, the visiting Wildcats cut the home team's lead to single digits at nine with 1:12 left and again with 55 ticks remaining before CWU scored the game's final six points on free throws by Toussaint Tyler (Kent/Kentwood HS) and Riley Sivak (Ellensburg) and a layup by senior Noble'D Shelton (Auburn).

Powered by their 26 offensive boards, Central Washington had 35 second-chance points to Portland Bible's 11 and outscored the visitors by a 42-28 margin in the paint. Central also had half as many turnovers (11) as Portland Bible did (22).

Junior Chris Sprinker (Tacoma/Curtis HS) had 18 points and eight rebounds (six offensive) with four blocked shots and three steals for Central. Clyde, Shelton (11 points) and Sivak (10 points) also had double-figure point totals for CWU, which played one of just two non-Division II games this season.

Portland Bible finished the game shooting 47.4 percent to Central Washington's 45 percent, and the visitors were led by a pair of 20-plus-point scorers -- Austin Hodges with 25 and Stephen McCall with 24. Michael Cooper had 18 points and six rebounds, converting on 9 of 11 field-goal attempts, while Joshua Swink came off the Wildcat bench to score seven with a team-high nine rebounds.

Central Washington will return to action on Nov. 27 against Dixie State in the first game of the Northwest Nazarene University Classic in Nampa, Idaho. The Wildcats will also take on Colorado-Colorado Springs at the tournament. Central's next home game is Dec. 9 versus Walla Walla University.