Game notes ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Feb. 11) — Coming off a home win against Saint Martin's University on Saturday night, the Central Washington University men's basketball team plays Thursday [Feb. 12] at Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham, Wash., and Saturday [Feb. 14] at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
The Wildcats split their two games last week. They fell to Western Oregon University 78-71 on Thursday but rebounded for the 88-79 win over the Saints.
"From Thursday to Saturday, we took a huge step forward," said CWU head coach
Greg Sparling. "I think that we got back to playing more team basketball and sharing the basketball was one of the highlights."
Sparling said both games this week would be a tough challenge for the Wildcats (13-5, Great Northwest Athletic Conference), who are third [8-4] in the conference race
"I think our guys are ready to go and they're focused," said Coach Sparling. "We're just trying to get to the top. It's small steps but we just got to keep getting better every day."
The Vikings are 13-10 on the season, 10-2 at home and 6-7 in GNAC play, which is sixth in the conference standings. WWU is on a three-game winning streak including a pair of double-digit road wins last week at Seattle Pacific University and Montana State Billings.
The last time the two teams met, a late three-point shot by CWU guard
Dom Williams gave the Wildcats a dramatic 74-71 win. Last year in Bellingham, it was late-game heroics by WWU guard Richard Woodworth, who connected on a half-court shot at the final buzzer as the Vikings came up with the 94-91 victory.
Forward Anye Turner, the GNAC Player of the Week, leads the Vikings into the Thursday night game. In last week's action, he scored 23 points, grabbed 23 rebounds and blocked nine shots. He is the GNAC leader in both rebounds and blocked shots.
"It looks like they are playing a lot more unselfish and sharing the basketball a lot better than the first time they came around," added Sparling. "The scary thing about it is they've got some guys along the perimeter who can score. It's going to be a tough battle for us."
Simon Fraser is also coming off of a big win at Seattle Pacific, a first for the Clan since SFU joined NCAA Division II for the 1983-84 season.
"They're playing well and it's going to be a tough challenge," Sparling commented. "They went down and beat SPU, on SPU's floor, and that doesn't happen very often. We definitely need to have something left in the tank for Saturday night."
The Clan, the highest scoring team in the nation averaging 107.7 points per game, is 9-12 on the year and 4-9 in GNAC play. They lost to CWU 104-95 in Nicholson Pavilion earlier this season.
Both games are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. Following the two-game road swing, CWU returns home to host the University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Alaska next week.
