SEATTLE, Wash. – Freshman Khalil Shabazz scored a game high 25 points as the Central Washington University men's basketball team defeated The University of Hawaii at Hilo 84-79 in the opening game of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic to improve to 2-1 on the season.
 
The Wildcats used a 23-0 run that spanned both halves to build a 24-point second-half lead before the Vulcans climbed to within four points before a fast break dunk by Fuquan Niles that sealed the Wildcats victory.
 
Shabazz was 8 of 13 from the field and drained 9 of 11 from the free throw line.  Niles missed just one shot in the contest, making 6 of 7 shots and pulled down 11 rebounds to complete his first double-double of the season.  Junior Malik Montoya scored a season-high of 10 points off the bench, and senior Marc Rodgers added eight points, four rebounds and three steals.
 
Central Washington shot 49-percent from the field and connected on 29 of his 37 free throw attempts, while the Vulcans made just 38.5-percent of their shots.  However, 14 of the Vulcans 25 field goals came from three-point territory where they hit at a 41.2-percent clip.
In the first half, the Wildcats trailed 21-25, but ended the stanza on a 17-0 run to take a 38-25 lead into intermission.  Central shot 46.4 percent in the half with Niles converting on all four shot attempts.  The Wildcats were extremely productive from the charity stripe where they made 9 of 10.
 
The Vulcans made 9 of their first 18 shot attempts, but finished the first half 9 of 27 from the field and turned the ball over seven times.
 
The Wildcats carried its momentum into the second half, where they extended their scoreless run to 23-0 to build a 19-point lead before the Vulcans scored their first point in over 12 minutes of action.  In fact, the Vulcans went over 17 minutes without a field goal.
 
The Vulcans rallied late in the second half to pull within four points, using a 26-13 run to end the game.  The Wildcats turned the ball over 14 times in the second half, and the Vulcans converted that into 16 points on their end.
 
Central Washington will return to action tomorrow when they play Concordia University-Irvine at 5 p.m. on the campus of Seattle Pacific Univeristy.