Box Score

SEATTLE (Dec. 5) -- Junior Chris Sprinker (Tacoma/Curtis HS) had his first double-double of the season and earned all-tournament team honors, but Central Washington suffered its second defeat in as many nights with a 78-69 loss to Carroll College (Mont.) at the SPU Tournament on Saturday evening at Brougham Pavilion.

The loss drops the Wildcats below .500 at 2-3 overall and left them as the only winless team in the four-team tournament. Carroll, which competes as a member of the NAIA, improved to 7-3 on the season.

Sprinker finished with 16 points and led all players with a season-high 11 rebounds, but the Wildcats finished the game shooting just 40.9 percent from the floor including 4 of 17 from three-point range. Central was also outscored 29-11 at the free throw line, where they shot 52.4 percent on their 21 attempts. Carroll converted on better than 80 percent of its 36 foul shots.

Despite the foul-shooting disparity, Central had opportunities to stay close in the game. In a contest that featured 10 ties and an equal number of lead changes, the Wildcats and Saints were tied for the final time with 7:11 remaining. CWU trailed by two possessions for most of the final seven minutes, but closed to within four at the one-minute mark, but Carroll made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 59 seconds while Central Washington made just one of three shots -- a two-pointer -- the rest of the way.

In addition to Sprinker's 16 points, senior Jon Clift (Spokane/Joel E. Ferris HS) and sophomore Roby Clyde (Connell/Pasco HS) finished with 10 points apiece before fouling out. Clyde was also the Wildcats' number two rebounder with five boards as Central was outrebounded by a narrow 34-32 margin, although they did force 18 turnovers.

Carroll was led by four starters in double figures, including a game-high 17 points from Andy Garland. Garland also finished as the Saints' leading rebounder with eight boards. Casey Rogers had 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists, with two-thirds of his points coming at the free throw line where he was 10 of 13.

Central Washington returns to Nicholson Pavilion for a single game next Wednesday (Dec. 9) against Walla Walla University at 7 p.m.