Box Score

BILLINGS, Mont. (Feb. 16) -- Seniors Jordan Coby (Tacoma/Woodrow Wilson HS) and Jordan Starr (Yakima/A.C. Davis HS) combined to score 36 points but the Central Washington University men's basketball team suffered its third consecutive loss, falling 83-78 to host Montana State University Billings on Saturday night at Alterowitz Gymnasium.

The Wildcats fell to 13-10 overall and now sit in sixth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with a 7-8 conference record. MSU Billings jumped ahead of CWU in the conference standings with Saturday's win, improving to 7-7 in the conference and 14-11 overall.

Coby (21 points) and Starr (15 points) accounted for nearly half of the Wildcats' scoring total on a night when the conference's top scorer, junior Mark McLaughlin (Bothell/Inglemoor HS), finished with just four points. McLaughlin did not play in the second half due to a coach's decision.

CWU finished the game shooting more than 12 percent better than the host Yellowjackets, converting on 32 of its 70 attempts, but the Wildcats were outscored by a 34-10 margin at the free throw line. MSUB attempted 38 foul shots in the game to just 12 for CWU, overshadowing a night on which the Wildcats had a commanding 43-30 edge in rebounding in addition to its favorable edge in field-goal shooting.

The Wildcats did not take their first lead of the game until the first-half buzzer, when Starr hit a three-pointer to give CWU a 45-44 advantage. That lead was short-lived after halftime, however, as MSUB scored a trey on its first possession of the second half. Five ties ensued over the next seven minutes before CWU regained the lead at the 11:18 mark, and the Wildcats led all the way until the final minute. In the final 52 seconds, the Yellowjackets made 9 of 10 free throws, while CWU did not attempt a foul shot over the last 7:58 of the contest.

Coby finished the game making 8 of 16 shots including 3 of 8 from three-point range, where the Wildcats were just 4 of 17 overall. Starr made the other trey -- in his lone attempt from behind the arc -- while grabbing eight rebounds. Coby added seven boards, with senior Derrick Davis (Tacoma/Clover Park HS) leading CWU in rebounding (nine) and blocked shots (four) while scoring eight points. Junior Dom Williams (Tacoma/Curtis HS) also scored eight off the bench for the Wildcats.

Montana State Billings senior David Arnold led all players with 35 points, making 7 of his 11 three-point attempts and 10 of 20 from the floor overall. Fellow starters Jerrell Crayton (16 points) and Kalob Hatcher (11 points) also scored in double figures for the Yellowjackets.

CWU will play its final away game of the 2012-13 season next Saturday (Feb. 23), visiting Northwest Nazarene University for a 7 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (6 p.m. Pacific) contest in Nampa, Idaho. The Wildcats' next home game is Feb. 28 versus Western Oregon University.