Men's Basketball | 2/15/2017 12:49:00 PM

ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- The Central Washington University men's basketball team (12-10, 7-9 GNAC) is set to take on rival Western Washington (19-5, 13-3) this Thursday at 8 p.m.  The game will be broadcast live via ROOT SPORTS and live stats can be found on Wildcatsports.com.
 
The Nicholson Pavilion doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with the first 1,000 fans receiving t-shirts for the game.
 
The Wildcats are currently on a seven-game losing skid, but a playoff berth is still a possibility. CWU ranks seventh overall in the GNAC standings, with the top six teams earning bids to the GNAC Championships. Two of the remaining four games for Central are against teams ranked above them in the GNAC standings. If the Wildcats can win the majority of their games over the next couple of weeks, it should be enough to clinch a berth into the GNAC Championships on March 2.
 
Western Washington finds themselves perched atop the conference standings and have already clinched a berth in the GNAC Tournament.  However, the Vikings are 2-2 in their past four games, taking a pair of losses in Alaska two weeks ago.
 
The Vikings are led by Taylor Stafford who averages 21.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.  Stafford has led WWU in scoring in each of its last four games, and has received a lot of help from Jeffrey Parker who averages 16.5 points per game.  The Vikings lead the GNAC in scoring at 89.2.
 
 
CWU News and notes
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS WWU
CWU leads 155-99 dating back to 1908.  At home, the Wildcats are 92-32, but have won just one of the last four in Ellensburg.
 
HUNTER AMONG THE NATIONS BEST
Dom Hunter is carrying a 23.0 scoring average into this week, which ranks as 12th best nationally.  Hunter scored 20 or more points in the Wildcats first nine games, which is a school-record.  He has eclipsed 20 points in 16 of the Wildcat's 22 games this year, including six 30 point games.  In the past five games, Hunter has struggled to find his shot, shooting just 30.1 percent over the span and was held under 10 points in three of those games
 
STEPNEY STEPS UP
After an up and down start to the season, Jawan Stepney is making his presence known around the GNAC.  He has scored in double figures in 14 of the Wildcats last 16 games and has eclipsed 20 points on four different occasions.  Since the start of 2017, Stepney is averaging 16 points per game and shooting 53 percent from the field, including 46.7 percent from three.
 
MISSING LADD
Sophomore guard Naim Ladd has been sidelined with a toe injury for virtually the last five games.  Ladd gave it a go against Montana State Billings on Feb. 4, but was not at 100%.  Without Ladd in the lineup, CWU is averaging just 67.6 points per game.  When Ladd is healthy and playing, the Wildcats averaging 89.6 points per game.  The team is hopeful he will return this week against Western Washington.