BILLINGS, Mont. – Fuquan Niles went 9 for 14 and scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Central Washington University men's basketball team to its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory of the season over Montana State Billings 80-75 Thursday night.
 
Niles made 5 of 6 free throws and grabbed five rebounds, tying Jawan Stepney for the team lead in the game.  Stepney added 12 points and five assists in a solid all-around performance.
 
Sage Woodruff led the Wildcats bench with 16 points, followed by Marc Rodgers who had four points and three steals.  The Central Washington reserves pitched in 33 points, including six from Coleman Sparling who also had three steals.
 
For the game the Wildcats shot 47.6 percent from the field and forced 28 turnovers where the Wildcats averaged a point per turnover throughout the game.
 
"We shot the ball fairly well, we never really got hot, but were consistent for the majority of the game," CWU Head Coach Greg Sparling said.  "With how we played defense tonight, we needed to shoot well enough to take advantage of our extra possessions, and we did that.  Our guards were phenomenal both on ball and in helf defense which created momentum for us as the game went back and forth."
 
The Wildcats totaled 13 steals on the night, nine coming from Sparling, Rodgers and Malik Montoya.

In the first half the Wildcats shot an even 50 percent from the field, but missed all five of their three point attempts.  The Yellowjackets converted at a 58.8 percent clip and made 16 of 18 shots from the free throw line.
 
The Wildcats led for the majority of the first half, but never by more than five points.  The Wildcats led 32-31 on a big slam by Niles – who went 6 for 6 in the stanza – before MSUB rallied to take a one-point lead at intermission.
 
After missing all their three pointers in the first half, the Wildcats committed to getting the ball in the paint, taking just one three in the half.  Central made the most of their opportunities near the hoop, sinking 12 of 14 free throws, including the final five attempts under two minutes where Niles and Rodgers sealed the CWU victory.
 
"Sometimes it just isn't your night from three, so we focused on getting more production under the basket," Sparling added.  "We were able to get to the paint every possession and once we started to knock down our free throws we began to control the game."
 
After shooting over 58 percent in the first half, the Yellowjackets finished with a shooting percentage of 47.9 thanks to a stifling defensive effort from the Wildcats in the second.  Sven Jeuschede led MSUB with 20 points, making half of the Yellowjackets eight triples on the night. 
 
Coming into the contest, the Yellowjackets averaged 30 three point attempts and 12 makes a game, but were held to 8 of 18 by the Wildcats.
 
Up next, the Wildcats will host Northwest Nazarene at the Town Toyota Center in Wentachee on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.  For tickets please click HERE.