Box Score
SEATTLE (Feb. 25) -- Central Washington University junior
Chris Sprinker (Tacoma/Curtis HS) scored a career-high 25 points on 10 of 15 shooting, but the Wildcats were unable to extend their regular-season win streak over rival Seattle Pacific University in an 100-92 loss to the ninth-ranked Falcons on Thursday night at Brougham Pavilion.
The Wildcats, who had won the last eight regular-season meetings between the two schools, fell to 15-8 overall and 9-4 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with the loss. They also fell to third place in the GNAC standings with Western Washington's overtime win at Northwest Nazarene. Seattle Pacific, meanwhile, clinched the GNAC title by improving to 21-3 overall and 12-1 in the GNAC.
Central trailed early but went on a 14-2 run to turn an eight-point deficit into a four-point lead with 12:22 to go in the first half. In a fast-paced, high-scoring contest, the Wildcats were either tied or ahead until the 8:46 mark when Seattle Pacific regained the lead. Central had just three other advantages the rest of the way -- all one-point leads -- before trailing 53-47 at halftime.
The Wildcats were unable to regain the lead in the second half, although they did tie the score for the eighth and final time with 16:02 remaining. However, after that point, Seattle Pacific kept its lead between one and seven points for the next eight minutes and then used a 10-0 run to take the margin to 15 with 6:14 to go as Central was held scoreless for two full minutes during that span.
CWU made a final run of sorts, scoring eight of the game's final nine points over the last 1:03, but that streak, which included five points from sophomore
Shane Miller (Moscow, Idaho) only trimmed the final margin to eight points.
Sprinker did most of his scoring damage in the first half, when he had 17 points and made 7 of 10 shot attempts. Senior
Jon Clift (Spokane/Joel E. Ferris HS) scored all 11 of his points in the game before halftime. A total of five Wildcat players scored in double figures, with Miller,
Toussaint Tyler (Kent/Kentwood HS), and
Coby Gibler (Bainbridge Island/Bainbridge HS) joining Sprinker and Clift with 15, 16, and 12, respectively.
Central shot nearly identical percentages in each half and finished the game making just 44.2 percent from the floor. The Wildcats also had a three-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio (18 assists with just six turnovers), but the GNAC's top rebounding team was outrebounded by a 40-33 count.
Seattle Pacific had banner individual performances from Chris Banchero and Rob Diederichs. Banchero scored 34 points, the most by a Wildcat opponent this season, while Diederichs threatened for a triple-double after being credited with a conference-record 19 assists to go with six points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Larrieu added 20 for the Falcons, who earned their first regular-season win over CWU since Jan. 19, 2006. SPU was credited with 30 assists on its 34 made field-goal attempts.
Central Washington, which was ranked seventh in this week's NCAA Division II West Region poll, will have its hands full once again as the Wildcats visit rival Western Washington on Sunday night (Feb. 28) in a regionally-televised game against the 24th-ranked Vikings. The game, which will air on FSN Northwest (Charter-Ellensburg 55/Comcast-Seattle 30/DirecTV 627/DiSH 426), is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. CWU will then have its final two home games at Nicholson Pavilion next Thursday (Mar. 4) and Saturday (Mar. 6) to close out the regular season.
