Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Feb. 20) -- Central Washington University shot 69.2 percent from the field in the second half, and finished the game at a season-high 59 percent, in rallying to defeat visiting Northwest Nazarene University, 89-75, on Saturday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The win was Central's sixth in its last seven games and enabled the Wildcats to take sole possession of second place in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at 9-3 and 15-7 overall. NNU fell to 13-10 overall and 5-7 in conference action.

Four Wildcat starters scored in double figures, including 17 apiece from guards Jon Clift (Spokane/Joel E. Ferris HS) and JC Cook (Canby, Ore.). Clift had 10 of his points in the first half, while Cook was one of Central's second-half catalysts, scoring 11 of his tallies in the final period. Junior center Chris Sprinker (Tacoma/Curtis HS), who played just 14 minutes due to foul trouble, finished the game with 14 points including 12 in the second half.

Neither team took control in the first half, with five ties and 13 lead changes before the intermission. Northwest Nazarene had the largest lead of the opening period at seven points with 5:41 to go, and the Crusaders took a five-point lead into the locker room following Drew Eisinger's buzzer-beating three-pointer from the corner that made it a 47-42 count.

After watching NNU make 8 of 12 three-point attempts in the first half, Central turned up the offense a notch from its already efficient opening-period shooting in which the Wildcats shot 51.4 percent from the field but still trailed by five. CWU made eight of its first ten shot attempts in the second half to take a four-point lead at the 13:27 mark, and although the advantage was whittled to two with 12 minutes left, Central did not trail again. The Wildcats pushed a three-point lead to an 11-point advantage with a 10-2 run over a four-minute span, and capped the game with eight straight points to make it a final 14-point margin.

While Central's offense sizzled in the second half by making 18 of 26 from the field, the Wildcats also committed just three turnovers in the final period. Meanwhile, CWU held Northwest Nazarene to 29 percent shooting (9 of 31) after halftime, including just 5 of 15 from three-point range. Louie Beech, who led all players with 29 points and made 9 of 12 three-pointers, did most of his damage in the opening half when he scored 18 points on 6 of 7 from three-point range.

Joining the trio of Clift, Cook, and Sprinker in double figures for Central Washington was Ellensburg native Riley Sivak, who scored 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting. The Wildcats' fifth starter, junior Humberto Perez (Yakima/A.C. Davis HS), finished with eight points.

Beech was aided in the scoring column by Eisinger with 15 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while Brian Barkdoll had 11 points and eight rebounds in helping Northwest Nazarene outrebound Central Washington by a 36-33 count. The Wildcats finished the game with just eight turnovers while forcing the visiting Crusaders into 15 miscues, which Central converted into 25 points.

Central will play its final two away games of the 2009-10 regular season next weekend, visiting nationally-ranked Seattle Pacific and Western Washington on Thursday (Feb. 25) and Sunday (Feb. 28), respectively. The Wildcats trail SPU (11-1 GNAC) by two games in the GNAC standings and are one-half game ahead of Western (9-4 GNAC). The game against the rival Vikings will be aired live on FSN Northwest.