Box Score ELLENSBURG, WA (Jan. 16) -- Central Washington's mens basketball team participated in its second straight overtime game but lost 84-80 against the University of Alaska Thursday night.   

The Wildcats fall to 7-7 overall, 3-3 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  Alaska improves to 9-5 overall, 4-2 in the GNAC. 

At half the Wildcats trailed 42-31, connecting on 12 of 25 from the floor. Mark MacLaughlin (Inglemoor HS) led all scorers with 17 points, shooting 7 of 11 from the field.  Alaska's scoring was pretty evenly distributed, they made it to the free throw line 12 times in the first-half converting on 10 of those attempts. 

The Wildcats rallied back in the 2nd half outscoring Alaska 40-29.   JB Pillard (Juanita HS) scored 11 of his points after intermission and also hauled down 10 rebounds in the half.  Pillard also scored a layup with 26 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and force overtime.    

MacLaughlin was the leading scorer with 32, his second-straight game with at least 30 points. JB Pillard also contributed with his second-straight double-double adding 13 points and 13 rebounds.  As a team Central shot 49.2% from the field and outrebounded Alaska 35-30.  

Alaska's Sergej Pucar led the Nanooks with 26 points on 6 of 14 shooting.  Also scoring in double figures for the home team was Ronnie Baker and Andrew Kelly who scored 18 and 12 points respectively.

Next up for the Wildcats will play The University of Alaska Anchorage this Saturday, Jan. 18 at 8:00 P.M. PST.