SEATTLE, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team lost its first game of the 2016-17 season, losing to 17^th ranked Minnesota State University – Mankato 104-93 Saturday afternoon in the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic at Brougham Pavilion on the campus of Seattle Pacific University.
 
The Wildcats now stand with a 3-1 record on the season, while the Mavericks improve to 3-1.
 
Dom Hunter led the way for the Wildcats, eclipsing the 20-point plateau for the fourth time this year, finishing with 27 points on 10 of 22 shooting.  Naim Ladd added 18 points, while Jawan Stepney had 15.
 
The Wildcats had a great shooting night overall, making 47.9 percent of their shots, but made just 32.1 percent from behind the arc, including a 3 for 13 output in the second half.  The Mavericks made 56.1 percent of their field goals and made 12 of 25 shots from long range.  In the pivotal second half, where the Wildcats led by four halfway through the period, Minnesota State Mankato had an answer for every CWU run, making 72.7 percent of their three pointers and knocked down 17 of 22 from the free throw line.
 
Central Washington also shot well from the free throw line, making 14 of 17, led by Hunter and Stepney who were 5 of 5 and 3 for 3, respectively.
 
QUOTEABLE
 
"We lost to a very good team today.  We kept making runs and cutting the lead, even taking leads, and they (Mankato) always found ways to respond.  We need to sharpen up our rotations on defense and get after the boards a little more, but our guys competed very well today."  -- CWU Head coach Greg Sparling
 
FIRST HALF
The Wildcats started slow, missing their first four shots of the half, and the first five shots from three-point territory, finding themselves down 18-11 near the midway point.
 
The CWU bench ignited the offense with Sage Woodruff, Cam Burton and Marc Rodgers each hitting a three, while Niles added six points and three rebounds.  Central got 15 points of production from its bench in the stanza, outscoring the Maverick's reserves by five points.
 
Dom Hunter found his shot in the latter portion of the half, finishing with 10 points.
 
Central Washington finished the half shooting at a 44.1-percent clip, making 6 of its 15 shots from behind the arc.  The Wildcats were also perfect from the free throw line, making all five of their attempts to enter halftime deadlocked at 41 points.
 
SECOND HALF
Central Washington came out on fire hitting on four of its first six shot attempts, and a jumper by Ladd gave the Wildcats a 55-51 lead with 15:02 left – the Wildcats largest lead of the game.
 
The Mavericks used a 7-0 run to regain the lead, and held it for the remainder of the half.  CWU continued to fight and brought the score to within two points (78-80) off a three by Woodruff and a step back jumper by Hunter, but could not tie the game up or take the lead.
 
The Mavericks found much success from three, making 8 of 11 shots from behind the arc in the half, with five coming from the tandem of Aarias Austin and Joey Witthus.  Austin and Witthus both finished with 22 points, while Charlie Brown poured in 24.
 
UPCOMING GAMES
Up next, the Wildcats will host its home opener next Saturday (Nov. 26) at 7 p.m. against Walla Walla University.