Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Jan. 7) -- Junior Toussaint Tyler (Kent/Kentwood HS) scored 15 of his career-high 17 points in the second half, helping the Central Washington men's basketball team to an 82-70 victory over visiting Western Oregon in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams on Thursday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The win was the fifth in the last six games for Central, which improved to 7-4 overall (1-0 GNAC). Western Oregon fell to 7-5 and 0-1.

Tyler tied for game-high scoring honors with Western Oregon's Blair Wheadon, although Tyler accomplished his total in half as much action (20 minutes) as Wheadon. Tyler made 6 of 10 attempts including 5 of 7 in the second half.

Central Washington trailed just twice in Thursday's victory, and both deficits were one-point margins early in the first half. After their final deficit at 8-7, the Wildcats scored eight straight points as part of a 13-3 run, but just once -- at 36-26 -- did Central take a double-digit lead in the first half. Neither team scored much after that point, which came with 6:09 to go before halftime, as the Wildcats had just one more basket before halftime. CWU led 38-31 at the intermission.

The Wildcats came firing out of the gates in the second half by scoring six straight points in the first two minutes. And although they led by at least six the rest of the way, Central seemingly could not break away from the Wolves. After pushing their lead to 17 with 6:18 left, Western Oregon went on an 11-3 run over the next three minutes to make it a nine-point affair, but that is as close as the score would eventually get before CWU settled for the 12-point win.

Central took advantage of a deeper bench, led by Tyler, outscoring the Western Oregon reserves by a 38-3 count. They also exploited miscues by the Wolves, converting 22 WOU turnovers into 23 points and finishing with a 10-point advantage off turnovers. However, Central was outrebounded 44-39, outscored in the paint 34-28, and on second-chance points 25-19.

While Tyler was the Wildcats' top scorer, four teammates also reached double figures. Starting guard JC Cook (Canby, Ore.) and reserve Humberto Perez (Yakima/A.C. Davis HS) had 12 points each, point guard Jon Clift (Spokane/Joel E. Ferris HS) added 11, and center Chris Sprinker (Tacoma/Curtis HS) finished with 10 points and seven rebounds before fouling out.

Western Oregon had four scorers in double figures. Mike McLaughlin had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Rico Myles finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Matt Schmidt added 14 for the Wolves.

Central Washington will travel to Nampa, Idaho, for a Saturday afternoon (Jan. 9) matchup with Northwest Nazarene. The Wildcats and Crusaders will tip off at 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (1 p.m. Pacific).