Box Score
ELLENSBURG (Jan. 17) -- Junior
Mark McLaughlin (Bothell/Inglemoor HS) made 14 of 20 shots and scored a game-high 32 points, leading the Central Washington University men's basketball team to an 89-86 home victory over Montana State University Billings on Thursday night at Nicholson Pavilion.
The Wildcats earned their second straight win and improved to 10-5 overall (4-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference). MSU Billings fell to 8-9 overall and 1-5 in the GNAC.
McLaughlin's 32-point outing was one shy of his career-high of 33 points, set in a triple-overtime loss at Western Oregon on Dec. 1. It marked his third 30-point game of the season while he posted his best shooting night of the campaign. He was 14 of 17 from inside the three-point arc (0 for 3 from three-point range) and added team-highs of eight rebounds and three assists.
The first half was very back and forth, with 12 ties and two lead changes. CWU took control with a 7-0 run that turned a two-point margin into a nine-point cushion with five minutes to go in the period, and the Wildcats later pushed the differential to 12 with 1:06 to go before halftime.
The lead extended to as many as 17 after CWU opened the second half on a 13-6 run, but MSU Billings chipped away at the deficit. The Yellowjackets made it a five-point affair with 10:32 to go after consecutive three-pointers by Omar McDade, but the Wildcats then scored six straight to take it back to double digits. CWU led by 11 with 3:40 remaining before a 10-0 MSUB run, fueled again by a pair of McDade three-pointers, cut the margin to one. McLaughlin then sealed the win with a clinching jumper with 51.7 seconds left, and a free throw by senior
Jordan Coby (Tacoma/Woodrow Wilson HS) with 18.8 ticks remaining accounted for the final scoring. A potential game-tying three by Kalob Hatcher with three seconds rimmed off.
Each team finished the game shooting better than 50 percent, as MSU Billings actually edged the Wildcats by a 54.0 to 53.1 percent margin as each team made 34 field goals. CWU distanced itself from the Yellowjackets at the free throw line, where the conference's top foul-shooting team made 18 of 23 (78.3 percent) while MSUB was just 8 of 17 (47.1 percent).
CWU and MSUB also finished with three double-digit scorers apiece. Junior
Chris Holmes (Seattle/Franklin HS) scored 13 points and pulled down six rebounds (five offensive) for the Wildcats, while Coby scored 10 off the bench. Senior
Brandon Magee (Spanaway/Bethel HS) added nine.
McDade finished with a team-high 26 points and a game-high six assists for the Yellowjackets, connecting on 6 of 10 three-pointers and 9 of 15 shots overall. Jerrell Crayton added a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds, making 9 of 14 shots, while Sam Johnson had 19 points off the bench while making 8 of 11 from the floor.
CWU won the turnover battle, committing just eight miscues -- marking the sixth time in 15 games this season (including the third time in the past four) -- that the Wildcats had fewer than 10 turnovers in a game. MSUB finished with 14 turnovers.
CWU will take on number six nationally-ranked Seattle Pacific University (12-2, 5-1 GNAC) on Saturday night (Jan. 19) at Nicholson Pavilion.
