SEATTLE (Feb. 26) — The Central Washington University men's basketball team missed its final 11 shots of the first half, allowing Seattle Pacific to go on a pivotal 17-4 run, as the Wildcats fells to the Falcons in Royal Brougham Pavilion 69-47 Thursday.
 
After dropping behind by 10 points early, the Wildcats fought back and pulled to within three, at 15-12, with 10:25 left in the first half. Central would only score two more baskets in the period, with the last coming with 4:39 left. The Falcons' aided their cause by outrebounding CWU in the first half 30-12 as they pulled out to a 32-16 lead at intermission.
 
"We got taken out to the woodshed—no ifs, ands, or buts about it," said CWU head coach Greg Sparling about the rebounding differential. "It wasn't on our bigs, it was on our guards. Our guards weren't boxing off. It's all about effort. It's frustrating."
 
The frustration continued in the second half for CWU, as the Wildcats were outscored 37-31 and outrebounded 30-13. For the night, SPU had an 60-25 edge on the glass—good even for a team that ranks second in the nation in rebounding differential, as the Falcons outrebound their foes by an average of 12.5 board per contest.
 
"If you give up 60 rebounds, and 20 offensive, it's going to be a long night wherever you play," Sparling admitted. "They wanted it a little worse than we did."
 
Even so, the Wildcats did effectively execute some part of their game plan, particularly on the defensive end.
 
"We held them to 42 percent shooting and we turned them over 15 times, like we wanted to. But, in the end, we couldn't capitalize on it," Sparling noted. On the year, the Falcons are No. 5 in the nation in field goal accuracy, hitting 51.6 percent from the field.
 
Matt Borton led the Falcons with 15 points and 17 rebounds. He was among four double-figures scores for SPU. Mitch Penner also grabbed 10 boards for Seattle Pacific.
 
CWU was led by Joseph Stroud, who scored 15 points, of which 11 came in the second half. But the Wildcats leading point producer, Dom Williams, was held to seven points, nearly 13 below his season average of 19.9, which was second best in the GNAC heading into the Thursday game.
 
"They did a nice job on the defensive end and denying Dom tonight," Sparling acknowledged. "But we've got to work harder to get open. Not just Dom, everybody."
 
With the loss, CWU fell to 16-8 on the season and 11-6 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The defeat dropped CWU a game behind SPU in the race for second place, and a first-round bye, in the GNAC playoffs, which will be hosted next week by Montana State University Billings (MSUB).
 
The Wildcats conclude the regular season Saturday at MSUB, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. CWU beat the Yellowjackets 88-79 earlier this season in Ellensburg.
 
"We will regroup," Sparling said, pertaining to the regular-season finale. "This was a pretty good wakeup call. But this team bounces back the second night. They come out ready to go. We've just got to execute."