Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Feb. 24) -- Senior Chris Sprinker (Tacoma/Curtis HS) broke Central Washington University's all-time blocked shots record, helping the 11th-ranked Wildcat men's basketball team defeat Western Oregon University, 71-57, on Thursday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats end the regular season with a 23-3 record and a 16-2 record in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The 16 conference victories tie the GNAC record for most conference wins in a season. Western Oregon finishes the regular season at 13-15 overall and 8-10 in the GNAC, and the Wolves will be the sixth seed for the inaugural GNAC Tournament next week.

Sprinker came into the game needing one block to tie former Wildcat Otto Pijpker's 18-year old career record of 128 blocked shots. With seven seconds left in the first half, Sprinker earned his second block of the contest, giving him 129 in his career. Sprinker eventually finished the game with four blocks, 11 points and seven rebounds.

Central jumped out to a 20-9 lead at the 11:28 mark in the first half. The Wildcats led by as many as 14 points in the period, entering halftime with an 11-point advantage at 38-27. CWU got an opening-period boost from its leading scorer, Jamar Berry (Tacoma/Franklin Pierce HS), who scored 17 before halftime.

The Wildcats outshot the Wolves by 21 percent in the first half, scoring 22 points in the paint while Western Oregon managed just six in the opening 20 minutes.

The CWU lead hovered around 10 points for the majority of the second half, as both teams shot in the mid-40-percent range in the final stanza. The Wildcats had a significant edge in rebounding after halftime, totaling 21 second-half rebounds to the Wolves' 12, helping them finish with a 38-28 advantage in that department for the game. Senior Coby Gibler (Bainbridge Island/Bainbridge HS) scored 10 of his 12 points after halftime.

The Wildcat bench outscored Western Oregon's reserves 33-4, led by Gibler and Jody Johnson (Seattle/Franklin HS) with 12 points each. Senior Chris Scott (Las Vegas, Nev./Bonanza HS) also contributed nine points in a reserve role, with three assists and no turnovers in 27 minutes of action.

The Wildcats dominated the paint throughout the contest, outscoring the Wolves 44-22 under the basket, while also rejecting seven Western Oregon shots. In addition to Sprinker's four rejections, Gibler added three.

Western Oregon guard Blair Wheadon led all scorers with 24 points on 9 of 19 shooting. Also scoring in double figures for the Wolves was Tarance Glynn, who had 16 points.

Central Washington will host Montana State Billings in the quarterfinal round of the inaugural Great Northwest Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament on Monday (Feb. 28) at 7 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion. As the top seed and regular-season conference champion, the Wildcats will be in a position to host each subsequent round of the conference tournament should they advance.