ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Nov. 29) — Before the start of the game against Walla Walla University, Central Washington University men's basketball head coach Greg Sparling said he was hopeful his team could connect on 55 percent of its shots from the field during the contest. It did even better than that, in the second half, as the Wildcats knocked down 19 of 33 field goal tries in the final 20 minutes.

That torrid shooting was needed in the 84-71 CWU victory over the Wolves, as Walla Walla made 13 made three-point field goals—nine in the second half alone. The team was led by the six for seven deep shooting of Wolves guard Ethan Osias, who scored all 22 of his points in just 17 second half minutes.

"Coming into the game, we knew they were a three-point shooting team and that they were going to knock it down with a hand in their face or not," said CWU junior guard Gary Jacobs. "They don't have a conscience out there—they let it fly."

When Jacobs, who led the Wildcats with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists, hit a bucket with 6:33 left to put CWU up 65-43, it appeared that the game was well in hand. But Osias made three of his three-pointers during a 21-7 run that cut the CWU lead to eight points with 1:40 remaining. Even so, Sparling says he thought his team was still in control.

"I knew they were going to have to start pressing and this [CWU] team is going to be hard to press," Sparling said. "When we did break it [the press] we got layins or nice looks. And, when they fouled us, I like how our guys bucked down and went 13 for 13 from the free throw line."

It was the sixth straight season the Wolves have played, and lost, a non-conference game against Central in Nicholson Pavilion. But the final score was the closest in the series.

"I thought their guys really bought into their system—dribble drive and kick for threes," Sparling added. "They did a good job and Jimmy [Walla Walla head coach Jimmy Hill] has them playing hard. That's the best Walla Walla team that's come in here."

The CWU bench also played a big part in the victory as junior forward Joseph Stroud scored 18 points in 19 minutes, along with grabbing five rebounds and blocking four shots, and sophomore guard Terry Dawn scored a career high 17 points, including hitting on three straight three-point shots in the first half and four of five overall.

"He's getting more and more confident every night," Sparling said of Dawn. "Moving without the basketball is one of his strengths. And when he catches the ball with his feet set [and shoots] there's a pretty good chance that it's going in."

Even with that long-range success, Sparling continued, "We're still too enamored with the three-point line right now. At halftime we talked about not settling for threes. When we penetrated and kicked or penetrated and got to the rim good things happened."

With the win, CWU improved to 3-2 on the season. On Thursday, the Wildcats open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play hosting Montana State University Billings. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. It's part of doubleheader action, as the CWU women also open GNAC play taking on Saint Martin's at 5:15 p.m.

"We've got to work harder for all 40 minutes of the game," said Jacobs of improvements the team will need to make on Thursday.