PORTLAND, Ore. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team outscored Cal State Monterey Bay 36-28 in the second half to erase a three-point halftime deficit, earning its first win of the 2017-18 season by a score of 72-67.
With the win, the Wildcats even their record to 1-1 on the season, while the Otters fall to 0-2.
Jawan Stepney led the Wildcats in scoring with 25 points on 11 of 17 shooting, 2 of 5 from three point territory. Freshman Khalil Shabazz added 11 points, all of which came in the pivotal second half. Shabazz was 4 of 9 from the field and had four steals.
As a team, the Wildcats shot 47.4-percent from the field (27 of 57), including 45.5-percent (5 of 11) from long range. The otters shot a respectable 41.4 percent from the field, but made just 29.2-percent of their 24 three point attempts.
The rebounds battle was identical between the two teams, each collecting 38 boards, 10 offensive. However, the Wildcats took advantage of their extra offensive possessions, scoring 12 second chance points while the Otters had two.
After trailing 39-36 to start the second half, Central used a 17-9 run to open the stanza capped by a three-pointer by
Karsten Chaplik at the 12:11 mark in the half. The Wildcats led by as many as 11 points in the game, and held off a CSUMB surge at the end of the game to take home the 72-67 victory.
Up next, the Wildcats head to Seattle to compete in the Sodexo Challenge on the campus of Seattle Pacific University where they play Hawaii Hilo on Friday, Nov. 17, and Concordia University (Calif.) on Nov 18. Both games tipoff at 5 p.m.
