ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Jawan Stepney scored a career-high 23 points as the Men's Basketball team defeated Montana State Billings 81-77 to pick up its fourth Great Northwest Athletic Conference win of the season.
 
The Wildcats improve to 9-3 overall with a 4-2 mark in the GNAC.  Billings falls to 8-5, 3-2 in the GNAC.
 
Stepney scored 15 of his points in the second half where he connected on 7 of 8 shots after halftime, helping the Wildcats outscore the host Yellowjackets by 10 in the pivotal stanza.  For the game, Stepney was 10 of 13 from the field and 2 of 3 from behind the arc.
 
"Huge night for Jawan.  He was going to the rim and making the three, it was good to see him get this type of breakout game." CWU Head Coach Greg Sparling said about junior guard.  "Most importantly, he played very good defense tonight.  We had him on some good scorers and he was focused and up to the challenge."
 
Dom Hunter, who came into the game ranked third nationally in scoring, earned his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Fuquan Niles finished with 10 points and six blocks, making all but one of his five shots in the game.
 
"Dom didn't shoot as well as he has, but he made up for it rebounding and knocking down free throws," Sparling said.  "Dom is a great leader, and different from other scorers of his caliber.  His shot wasn't falling, and instead of just continuing to put up shots, he helped others get involved, and found other ways to help us win the game."
 
As a team, the Wildcats shot a scorching 53.6 percent from the field.  Central made the most of its 11 offensive rebounds, scoring 16 second-chance points.  Central Washington held a slight rebounding advantage over MSUB, at 37-31.
 
Billings shot a respectable 43.9 percent from the field, and matched the Wildcats in points in the paint with 32.
 
Stepney got the Wildcats off to a hot start scoring all eight of his first half points in the first eight minutes of the game.  The team led by as many as six points in the opening period before MSUB went on a 15-5 run, aiding the Yellowjackets to a 40-34 halftime lead.
 
Montana State Billings opened up a nine-point lead to start the second half, but a 9-3 run by CWU capped by a Naim Ladd three-pointer helped the Wildcats close the margin.  The Wildcats took its first lead of the second half on a six-point scoring barrage by Stepney around the 12-minute mark.
 
Central Washington refused to lose the lead again in the contest, leading by as many as 12 points.  In the second half alone, the Wildcats shot 58.6 percent, while holding MSUB to a 38.9 percent clip.
MSUB was led by Cinco Durr who scored 21 points on 8 of 15 shooting.  Preston Beverly and Marc Matthews followed with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
 
The Wildcats will get a week off between contests, next hosting Seattle Pacific at 7 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion on Jan. 12.