ELLENSBURG, Wash.- Junior forward Drake Rademacher came off the bench to nearly record a double-double for the Wildcats, but the Central Washington University men's basketball team couldn't hold on to a 13-point first half advantage as they fell to Seattle Pacific University, 84-83, Saturday night in Nicholson Pavilion.
 
"We let that one get away," CWU head coach Greg Sparling said. "At the end of the day, we just didn't convert. We didn't hit our free throws or protect the basketball, which makes it hard to win games. We truly thought we had an opportunity to win, but couldn't finish. I thought our staff put a great game plan together, but we didn't do the things we needed to do to come away with the victory."
 
Rademacher scored a season-high 18 points and hauled in nine rebounds to finish just shy of his first double-double of the season. The junior from Enumclaw, Wash. also added a steal and assist to his stat line.  
 
Senior center Fuquan Niles just missed etching his name into the CWU record book following his nine-block performance against the Falcons. The school record remains at 10 and is held by former Wildcat Roby Clyde.
 
Leading the Wildcats from beyond the arc was senior Sage Woodruff. Woodruff connected on four-of-eight shots from long range to record a season-high 16 points.
 
The game featured a tale of two halves as the Wildcats dominated the first 20 minutes of play. CWU opened the game on a 10-3 run thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from junior Malik Montoya. Montoya scored eight of his 12 points in the first half.
 
The Falcons battled back to take a 13-12 lead, but Central Washington shift the momentum back in their favor following a rebound and pair of successful free throws from Rademacher. Rademacher continued to take advantage of the smaller SPU defenders as he recorded another four points in the paint to spark a Wildcat 11-0 run.
 
Leading 36-30, senior Jerome Bryant converted on a four-point play to help the Wildcats close the half on a 7-0 run and take a 43-30 lead.
 
SPU's Tony Miller hit five threes in the second half to help the Falcons erase a 13-point deficit and force overtime. Miller finished with a game-high 23 points to go along with two rebounds and an assist.
 
Leading 71-70, Jawan Stepney connected from deep to extend CWU's lead to four. The Falcons would not go away quietly as they battled back to close the scoring margin to just one (76-75) with 22 seconds remaining. The Wildcats had several chances to ice the game with free-throws, but struggled to convert down the stretch. CWU converted on just two of their final ten free throws and shot only 25-percent from the charity stripe in the second half. With five seconds remaining the Wildcats fouled SPU's Gavin Long, who made one of his two free throws to level the score 76-76 and force overtime.
 
The overtime period was back-and-forth as both teams traded points and leads early. Down 82-81 with 30 seconds remaining, Rademacher backed down an SPU defender and converted on a layup to give CWU an 83-82 lead. The Falcons countered with a layup of their own to regain the lead. Stepney attempted to convert on a three-pointer with time expiring, but came up just short as the Falcons came away with the victory.
 
The Wildcats will be back in Nicholson Pavilion on Friday, Dec. 8 against Langara College.
 
-CWU-