SEATTLE, Wash. (Nov. 21) -- Central Washington senior Gary Jacobs scored a game-high 22 points that included five dunks as the Wildcats defeated BYU-Hawaii 95-86 Saturday afternoon at Brougham Pavilion on the campus of Seattle Pacific University.
 
The Wildcats are now 3-0 to start the season while the Seasiders fall to 1-2.
 
Jacobs made 10 of 15 shots and was 2 of 4 from behind the arc.  He also led the team with seven rebounds and five assists.

"Jacobs had a great tournament and was able to get to the rim and shoot the three very well today and yesterday," CWU Head Coach Greg Sparling said about his senior guard. "He started hot with a couple of momentum building dunks and just continued that pace throughout the night."
 
Jacobs got a lot of help offensively, especially from Joey Roppo and Devin Matthews.  Roppo finished with 20 points and was 6 of 9 from three-point territory, with four coming in the first half.  Matthews added 16 points, four assists and four rebounds.
 
As a team, the Wildcats shot 53-percent from the field and 61.9 percent (13 of 21) from three.

"We shot the ball very well tonight, especially Joey Roppo who also had a very solid tournment," Sparling added. "We just have to rebound a little bit better defensively, especially against quality opponents like BYU-Hawaii.  As a whole we did some very good things and we will build upon those aspects of the game and work on fixing a few holes."
 
A pair of three pointers by Roppo and back-to-back dunks by Jacobs paced the Wildcats to a 15-6 lead with 15:12 left in the first half.
 
Joseph Stroud added a three-point shot of his own and three Wildcats free throws put CWU up 23-17 with just under 12 minutes to go in the half.
 
Naim Ladd put his print on the first half scoring consecutive layups to put the Wildcats up by 12 less than a minute later.
 
The Seasiders cut the CWU lead to 4 points, but Central Washington rallied to regain a double-digit lead off one of CWU's 8 three pointers of the half, this time by Drake Rademacher.
 
Both teams shot extremely well in the opening half with CWU shooting 55.9-percent while the Seasiders shot an even 50-percent.  The difference in the half was the Wildcats ability to score from long range making 8-of-12 attempts while BYUH was just 3 for 11.
 
The Seasiders switched to a 2-3 zone in the second half that quieted the CWU offense and were able to take a 59-58 lead over the Wildcats with 15 minutes remaining.
 
Jacobs single handedly gave CWU the lead back with a three-pointer followed by a steal that led to a dunk and a 67-63 lead.
 
The Wildcats extended the lead to 72-63 on another three by Roppo and a fast break slam by Jacobs.
 
The Wildcats got a bit careless with the ball and the Seasiders took advantage cutting the Wildcat lead to five points at 80-75 with five minutes to go.
 
Jacobs continued his hot streak hitting a fade away three pointer with the shot clock expiring giving CWU a 89-81 lead with 1:31 left in the contest, leading to the final 95-86 advantage.
 
Up next the Wildcats will host Walla Walla University in their home opener on Nov. 28 at 7 p.m.