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SEATTLE (Nov. 16) -- Senior MARK MCLAUGHLIN (Bothell/Inglemoor HS) erupted for a career-high 42 points, leading the Central Washington University men's basketball team to a 95-90 victory over Colorado Christian University in the final game of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic at Brougham Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats evened their overall and tournament record at 1-1, while Colorado Christian fell to 0-2 overall.

McLaughlin's 42-point output was the largest by a CWU player in the program's 16-year history as a member of the NCAA Division II. The previous high during the Wildcats' NCAA era was 41 by Robert Hicks on Jan. 26, 2006 at Humboldt State,and the overall school record is 46.

One night removed from an 18-point game that saw him shoot 7 for 25, McLaughlin was 17 for 28 from the floor and attempted just one three-pointer. He was also 8 of 11 at the line in a game where the Wildcats were an uncharacteristic 63.3 percent a the stripe (19 of 30).

"Mark had a fabulous game, and overall, it was really a good team effort," CWU head coach Greg Sparling said. "It was nice to bounce back from a tough loss (against Dixie State on Friday), and we played well, but we still need to work on containing other teams' scoring runs."

The Wildcats scored the game's opening basket and were out to a feverish start right away. The lead reached double figures with 12:12 to go in the first half, and the largest margin was 14 three times in the period before CWU took a 47-35 advantage into halftime.

Colorado Christian rallied back in the second half, though, overcoming a 13-point deficit in the period and taking its first lead at 72-71 with 8:03 left on the heels of 15-2 scoring run. The teams then traded points for most of the next seven-plus minutes before CWU took the lead for good in the closing minute. A lay-up by McLaughlin with 32 seconds left broke the game's final tie, and five free throws in six attempts over the final 14 seconds, plus a blocked shot by senior KEVIN DAVIS (Federal Way/Todd Beamer HS), enabled the Wildcats to finish off the victory.

Senior JB PILLARD III (Kirkland/Juanita HS), who like McLaughlin and Davis was tabbed as a pre-season all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference pick, had a standout game both offensively (6 of 7, 14 points) and rebounding (eight boards). Davis finished with eight points and nine rebounds, while junior JOSHUA LORD (Tacoma/Mount Tahoma HS) scored nine points with five assists. Reserves JORDAN RUSSELL (So., Tacoma/Lincoln HS), JALEN PEAKE (Fr., Yakima/West Valley HS), and JEFF BUDINICH (Sr., Maple Valley/Kentlake HS) finished with eight, six, and six points, respectively.

Colorado Christian had four players reach double figures, led by 20 points from Michael Brown. Avery Redmond added 17 and Kyle Weaver finished with 14 for the Cougars.

CWU shot 54.5 percent from the floor and committed just 15 turnovers while forcing the Cougars into 18 miscues. CCU finished with a 37-36 rebounding edge.

Central Washington will return home to host the GNAC/PacWest Challenge at Nicholson Pavilion next weekend. The Wildcats face Hawaii Pacific University on Friday (Nov. 22) at 6 p.m. in the tournament's opening game, and then will take on Brigham Young University-Hawaii on Saturday (Nov. 23) at 4 p.m. Seattle Pacific University is also in the four-team classic tournament.