NAMPA, Idaho -- The Central Washington University men's basketball team lost its fourth straight game, falling 61-73 to Northwest Nazarene Tuesday night in Nampa.

The Wildcats fall to 12-7 on the season and 7-6 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.  The Crusaders move to 10-9, 7-6 in the GNAC


The Wildcats shot just 35.3 percent from the field in the contest and made 5 of 23 shots from three point territory.  Central also found the free throw line 15 times in regulation, connecting on eight.  The Crusaders were 21 of 51 from the field (41.2%) and were nine of 20 from long range.  NNU shot 24 more free throws than CWU making 22 of 39, with 14 of the attempts coming in the final two minutes.

Dom Hunter led CWU with 27 points on 9 of 22 shooting, 3 of 11 from downtown.  Cam Burton was the Wildcats second leading scorer with eight points, making all four shot attempts in the game.  Both Jawan Stepney and Sage Woodruff finished with six points.

Central Washington held two leads in the first half at 6-5 on a layup by Jawan Stepney, and 8-7 off a Hunter jumper.  The Crusaders regained the lead and held it for the remainder of the half, ending the stanza up 24-23.

The Wildcats shot 31.3 percent in the opening half, connecting on just 1 of 10 attempts from three.  Central got seven points off the bench in the first half with Cameron Burton going 2 for 2 with four points and Jerome Bryant added the remaining three.

After exchanging baskets to open the second half, the Crusaders pushed their advantage to nine with 15:13 to play.  Central was unable to pull to within more than seven points as the NNU lead grew to as many as 17 points.  The Wildcats sent the Crusaders to the line on nearly every possession in the final 2:31 seconds of the game, and NNU converted on 9 of 10 shots from the charity stripe to finish with the final 73-61 advantage.

Bouna N'Diaye finished with a team-high 23 points for the crusaders and Maurice Jones earned a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Central Washington will look to break its four-game losing streak when they host Montana State Billings this Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion.