SEATTLE (Nov. 15) — The Central Washington University men's basketball team took its second straight game to begin the season, defeating Academy of Art at the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic at Seattle Pacific University with a nail-biting 70-68 win. 

The Wildcats shot well early on, where they led by as many as 14, with 6:53 left in the first half. The Urban Knights fought back to cut it to a three-point game trailing by 37-34 at the half. 

"We came out with a lot of energy in the first half but everything died down after that and we just had to tell our guys to stay consistent," said CWU assistant coach Drew Harris.  

In the second half, the Urban Knights tied the game at 49-all with 11:54 remaining and went on to take a four-point lead with 3:29 left in the game. A crucial three-point shot by CWU junior guard Jordan Russell tied the game at 68-68 with 1:02 remaining. 

With the Urban Knights in control of the final possession, an Urban Knight's turnover led to a Joseph Stroud dunk with less than a second left provided CWU with the winnning points. 

Russell led the way for the Wildcats with 11 points, three assists and one steal. Sophomore guard Marc Rodgers contributed 10 points, two assists and three steals.

"We knew it was going to be a fight from the beginning with them coming off a win over Seattle Pacific," said Rodgers. "We just felt we put in enough work to where we should beat them."

Joseph Stroud was also a contagious spark off the Wildcat bench. He recorded eight points, five rebounds and five blocked shots, along with the game winning dunk. 

"It was a frustrating game but my teammates told me to hang on," said Stroud. "The dunk just happened to come at the right moment."

Harris says he wants to see his team work on turning the ball over less and be more consistent with rebounding on Friday, when the Wildcats take on BYU-Hawaii in the GNAC/PacWest Challenge in Laie, Hawaii. The Wildcats will also play Hawaii Pacific in the two-day tournament on Saturday.