Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Jan. 14) -- The Central Washington University men's basketball team overcame an 18-point first-half deficit to defeat Montana State Billings, 115-107, on Saturday night at Nicholson Pavilion. Sophomore Lacy Haddock (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) engineered the Wildcats' comeback, scoring a season-high 35 points, 18 of which came in the decisive second half.

Central ended its four-game losing streak and now stands with an 8-7 overall record, including 2-5 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The Yellowjackets fell to 9-7 and 4-4 in the GNAC.

Haddock was 12 of 16 from the field, 10 of 13 from the free throw line, and his 35 points is the most by a Wildcat player since Matt Penoncello scored 36 points against Seattle Pacific in January 2009.

The Wildcats quickly fell behind, as MSUB built a 27-9 lead at the 12:19 mark in the first half. Haddock cut the Yellowjackets' lead to 34-27 as he scored seven straight points in an 80-second span. Montana State Billings did regain a double-digit lead (46-34) with 4:45 left in the half, but the Wildcats outscored the visitors 17-6 throughout the remainder of the stanza to enter halftime down just one-point (52-51).

After MSUB scored the first basket of the second half, Central took its first lead (56-54) since an early 2-0 advantage on a three-pointer by senior Toussaint Tyler (Kent/Kentwood HS), followed by a lay-in by junior Jordan Coby (Tacoma/Wilson HS). Yellowjacket forward Antoine Proctor singlehandedly kept MSUB in the game, as he scored 26 of his 35 points in the second half including 13 points from the free throw line.

Proctor picked up his fifth foul on a Haddock three-point attempt with 2:03 remaining, however, and the CWU guard drained all three shots from the charity stripe to make it a 104-100 Wildcat lead. Haddock ultimately scored 12 of the Wildcats' final 16 points, helping Central finish with the eight-point win.

Tyler and senior Jody Johnson (Seattle/Franklin HS) also had big second halves for the Wildcats. Tyler scored 18 of his 23 points after halftime and was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free throw line in the stanza, while Johnson scored 16 of his 20 points in the final period, and collected seven of his 10 rebounds to help him secure his fourth double-double of the season.

Despite shooting just 26.3 percent (5 of 19) from three-point range, the Wildcats still shot a scorching 53.2 percent from the field (41 of 77) while holding MSUB to 45.3 percent (29 of 64).  Montana State Billings made its money at the free throw line, where they were 37 of 46 (80.4 percent). Central also had an efficient night at the line, shooting 75.7 percent (28 of 37).

Sophomore Kevin Davis (Federal Way/Todd Beamer HS) earned his seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds, adding three blocked shots and two steals. The fifth member of the Wildcat roster to score in double figures was Coby with 14 points.

Proctor was 8 of 17 from the field for the Yellowjackets and sank 17 of his 20 free throw attempts. Jaxon Myaer and Taylor Stevens added 25 and 20 points, respectively.  

Central Washington will next play a regionally-televised game on ROOT Sports (formerly FSN Northwest) against archrival Western Washington University on  Wednesday (Jan. 18) at 7 p.m.