ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Fuquan Niles set a career high with eight blocks, including a game saving rejection with under 20 seconds to play as the Central Washington University men's basketball team defeated the University of Alaska 79-76 Saturday evening in Nicholson Pavilion.
 
The Wildcats rebounds from Thursday's loss to improve to 5-2 on the season and even their Great Northwest Athletic Conference record to 1-1.  The Nanooks fall to 5-5, 1-1 in the GNAC.
 
"This was a tough, hard fought game, and I am proud of the way we played tonight," CWU Head Coach Greg Sparling said about his team's performance.  "We came out strong, we weathered a few runs by Alaska and we played with a lot of heart and pride.  This is exactly the effort we wanted to see out of our guys coming off a loss."
 
Niles scored just five points in the contest, but his presence in the paint, especially in the second half helped the Wildcats escape with the three-point victory.  Niles totaled six second-half rejections, including an Alaska possession where he swatted three balls into the bleachers.
 
"Fuquan had one heck of a game for us tonight," Greg Sparling said of his junior center.  "He was a force in the paint all night.  On a couple of those blocks he was well above the rim.  The most exciting thing is that he is not yet in the shape we want him to be in.  Once he gets there, he is going to have games like this on a consistent basis."
 
Once again, Dom Hunter led all scorers with 33 points on 8 of 16 shooting, making six three pointers on nine attempts.  Hunter was also efficient from the charity stripe, knocking down 11 of 12 shots.  Hunter is now averaging 28.3 points per contest and making 95.2 percent of this free throws.
 
Jawan Stepney had his most impressive outing of his CWU career, scoring 13 points, with 11 coming in the second half.
 
 As a team, Central shot 45 percent from the field and made exactly half of its 22 three point attempts of the contest.  The Wildcats were solid from the line, converting on 14 of 16 attempts.
 
Alaska also shot the ball well, making 40.6 percent of their shots.  The Nanooks controlled the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats by 11, 44 to 33.
 
 
In the first half, the Wildcats held a slim 35-33 lead heading into intermission.  Central shot 41.9 percent in the period, making 13 of 31 shots and 6 of 14 from three-point territory.  The Nanooks held a healthy 27-15 rebounding advantage, 10 of which came on the offensive end.
 
Dom Hunter paced the CWU offense in the first half, scoring 13 points.  Chris-Michael Garret scored seven in the opening stanza and Naim Ladd and Fuquan Niles added six and five points, respectively.
 
 
The Wildcats held the lead for the majority of the second half, building a four-point lead on a 6-0 run at the hands of Stepney.  Stepney scored on three straight trips to open the second half, as he diced the Nanooks defense for a break away lay-up, followed by a pair of jumpers.
 
Stepney again propelled the Wildcats with a big three pointer at the 6:14 mark, giving the Wildcats a 65-57 lead.
 
The Nanooks did not go away quietly, cutting the CWU lead to one point on four different occasions in the final three minutes of play.  The Wildcats led by one when Alaska guard Brandon Davis goes in for a lay-up with 21 seconds left, but Niles smashed the attempt off the backboard, giving the Wildcats the ball, and a pair of Hunter free throws sealed the victory for the Wildcats.
 
Central Washington will get two weeks off before they host Langara College on Dec. 17 at 3 p.m.