BURNABY, British Columbia (Feb. 20) – The Central Washington University men's basketball team outscored Simon Fraser by 14 points in the second half en route to an 84-64 victory over the Clan.
 
The Wildcats (17-6, 12-6 GNAC) have now defeated SFU (2-22, 1-17 GNAC) three times this season and has a chance to move into the second seed of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament if they can sweep their two games next week.
 
The Wildcats play Alaska and Alaska Anchorage next week at home and trail each by just one game.  With two wins CWU will at minimum end the season tied with both teams, and will own any tiebreaker scenarios because of their victory over Western Oregon earlier in the season.
 
"We have to take it one game at a time," CWU Head Coach Greg Sparling said.  "We are playing two very good teams, so we have to come out fighting.  Not only do we want to improve our position in conference, but we want to send our seniors out in style."
 
Central Washington led Simon Fraser by just six points at halftime, despite outshooting the Clan by over 14 percent in the stanza.
 
That lead quickly turned into a nine-point advantage when Joey Roppo hit a three-pointer on the Wildcats first possession of the game. 
 
Roppo led the Wildcats with 19 points on 6 of 12 shooting.
 
The lead grew to as many as 22 points in the second half where CWU shot 44.1 percent from the field and made 15 of 18 from the free throw line.  For the game the Wildcats were 26 of 29 from the charity stripe that included conversions on their first 21 attempts.
 
Gary Jacobs was a perfect 7 for 7 from the line and added 16 points.  Joseph Stroud and Naim Ladd also took advantage of their free throw attempts going 6 for 6, scoring 12 and nine, respectively.
 
"Our guys got to the rim tonight, especially in the second half," Sparling said.  "Jacobs and Roppo were very aggressive on the offensive end, which led to a lot of chances at the free throw line.  When we attack the basket at a high rate, and convert our free throws, we will have a chance to win every night."
 
The Wildcats were also dominant on the glass, outrebounding SFU 41-29 with 15 of the caroms coming on the offensive end.  Stroud led the Wildcats with six rebounds while Devin Matthews, Desmond Ross and Chris-Michael Garret each added five.
 
Defensively the Wildcats forced the Clan into 18 turnovers and converted the SFU miscues into 26 points on the other end.
 
The Wildcats wrap up the 2016 regular season next week, hosting Alaska and Alaska Anchorage on Feb. 25 & 27.