ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Feb. 18) — Coming off a road trip split at Western Washington University and Simon Fraser University, the Central Washington University men's basketball team is home to host the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), Thursday, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), Saturday, in Nicholson Pavilion.
Game notes. CWU will be looking to complete a season-series sweep of both the Seawolves and Nanooks in the Wildcats final home games of the 2014-15 season.
Thursday's contest takes on extra significance since a Central win would create a three-way tie for second place between the Wildcats, UAA and Seattle Pacific, which is idle on Thursday. The top two teams coming out of the regular season get first-round byes in the conference championships.
The Seawolves, 14-9 on the season, are currently second in the GNAC with a 10-3 record. CWU is right behind at 14-7 overall and 9-5 in conference action, which includes a 77-68 victory at UAA in the earlier meeting of the teams.
"That [win] was big for us," acknowledged CWU head coach
Greg Sparling. "The season is coming right down to the wire, so that win could pay some dividends for us."
In that game, the Wildcats moved the ball as well as that have all season, recording 22 assists on 26 made baskets.
Both the Wildcats and Seawolves both clinched GNAC playoff berths last week. The Wildcats punched their post-season ticket with a 112-84 road blowout of SFU Saturday, while UAA last Thursday beat Montana State Billings 82-68 Thursday to advance. However, the Seawolves are licking their wounds following a 73-72 overtime, home court loss to Seattle Pacific on Saturday.
In the earlier meeting with the Nanooks in Fairbanks, CWU went on a late 12-2 run to overcome a six-point deficit and pull out a 74-70 victory and complete the road sweep, something the Wildcats have only done two other times in program history.
Heading into action Thursday night at Northwest Nazarene, UAF is 6-16 on the year and 3-11 in the GNAC. Saturday, the Nanooks snapped a nine-game losing streak with an 87-65 home win over Montana State Billings.
Along with Saturday's game, it will be both "Pink Night" and "Senior Night" for the CWU men's basketball team. Pink Night is an annual event designed to increase awareness of breast cancer and raise funding, which will be donated to the Foundation at KVH (Kittitas Valley Healthcare) and designated for breast cancer care.
During Senior Night, the Wildcats will honor Tacoma products
Dom Williams and
Julian Vaughn prior to their final appearances on the Nicholson Pavilion hardwood.
Williams heads into the weekend as the GNAC's No. 2 top scorer (19.1 points per game), fourth in three-point percentage (45.5), eighth in assists (3.6), No. 12 in steals (1.4) and 14th in free throw accuracy (79.1). He is also No. 6 in the nation in three-pointers made per game (2.9).
Vaughn, who has been used as both a starter and key reserve this season, is a tenacious defender and rebounder, who is averaging 4.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
Thursday's game tips off at 7 p.m., while Saturday's game is set for 7:30 p.m.
Following the two home games, CWU will return on the road for their final regular season games at Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings. MSUB will also host this year's conference tournament, March 4-7.
