ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team suffered a 17-point loss to the hands of Western Oregon University to push the Wildcats losing streak to three games.
The Wildcats are now 12-6 on the season and 7-5 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Western Oregon sweeps the season series for just the second time in 18 years and improves to 11-9, 8-4 in the GNAC.
"Got to give Western Oregon credit, they played hard and made some big baskets," CWU Head Coach
Greg Sparling said. "Honestly, we just didn't have it tonight, on both ends of the court. We did not bring much effort tonight, and the outcome is proof. We are a better then the way we have played in our last few outings. We have 72 hours to prepare for NNU, and we are going to work hard as a staff and a team to right the ship and get moving in the right direction."
The Wildcats posted its lowest scoring total of the season, despite shooting a respectable 42.9 percent from the field. Central shot just 18.2 percent from three-point territory, connecting on 4 of 22 shots from long range.
The Central Washington offense was without its second leading scorer in
Naim Ladd who suffered a minor injury in the team's loss to Concordia Thursday night. Central's top scorer,
Dom Hunter, had a hard time finding his rhythm making 4 of 17 of his field goals on the night. Hunter scored nine points which was 16 points less than his 25.4 points per game average.
Central got a solid outing from
Fuquan Niles who ended up with his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Cameron Burton and
Sage Woodruff gave the Wildcats some much needed help off the bench, with both players scoring eight points.
The Wolves outscored the Wildcats by 20 points at the free throw line, making 24 of 31 attempts while the Wildcats made 4 of 12.
The Wildcats held the edge on the glass, hauling down 39 rebounds while the Wolves grabbed 37. The Wildcats were extremely active on the offensive end finishing with 15 offensive rebounds, with Niles accounting for six.
The Wildcats have a quick turnaround as they head to Nampa, Idaho on Tuesday, Jan. 31 for a matchup with Northwest Nazarene at 7 p.m.
