ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team fended off a late game rally by Seattle Pacific to defeat the Falcons 89-85 Saturday night in front of 1,509 fans inside of Nicholson Pavilion.
 
The Wildcats led by as many as 13 points in the second half before the Falcons went on a 17-2 run to take a two-point lead with 3:10 to play.  Seattle Pacific held a four-point lead with 1:27 left in the game, but Dom Hunter scored five-straight points for the Wildcats, including a go-ahead jump shot from the top of the key with just 32 seconds left to play. 
 
The Wildcats knocked down three of their final four free-throw attempts to secure the 89-85 victory.
 
"This was a fun game," CWU Head Coach Greg Sparling said.  "It is always fun to play in front of lively home crowd, and our guys love having that support.  We battled against a good SPU team and I am proud of the grit and determination this team showed tonight."
 
The Wildcats improve to 10-3 on the season and 5-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.  The Falcons fall to 7-8, 3-4 in the GNAC.
 
Leading the way for the Wildcats was Naim Ladd who scored a career high 26 points, making 9 of 18 of his field goal attempts and 7 of 11 shots from behind the arc.  17 points came in the second half, and was a main contributor to the Wildcats second-half rally.
 
"Ladd is electric," Sparling said of his sophomore guard.  "He can put up points in a hurry and he carried us offensively at certain points during the game.  He is so crafty with the ball in his hands, he can get to the hoop easily, which makes him really hard to defend because he only needs a small amount of room to get his shot up."
 
Dom Hunter poured in 20 points on 7 of 15 shooting, while Jawan Stepney added 13.  Fuquan Niles led CWU with six rebounds and four blocks.
 
The Falcons outshot the Wildcats 52.5 percent to 44.3 percent, but the Wildcats forced 18 turnovers and made 15 three pointers while the Falcons made eight.  The Wildcats made the most of their 18 forced turnovers, scoring 20 points in transition.
 
Central also got a huge boost from its bench that produced 24 points.  Both Sage Woodruff and Marc Rodgers added nine points in reserve duty, and Jerome Bryant added six.
 
"Overall, tonight was a great team effort," Sparling added.  "Everyone who came into the game contributed tonight, and the teams that have a successful season and play in the postseason, need to have that every night."
 
Seattle Pacific shot 52.5 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from long range.  But their 18 offensive miscues played a big role in the outcome of the game.
Center Joe Rasmussen led the Falcons with 20, and three blocks.  Both Coleman Wooten and Tony Miller had double-doubles.  Wooten scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Miller scored 14 with 11 rebounds.
 
The Wildcats will look to extend their four-game win streak when they host Saint Martin's this Saturday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.