FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Central Washington University men's basketball team defeated The University of Alaska Fairbanks (12-16, 7-12 GNAC) 74-67 to improve to 14-11 (9-10 GNAC) on the season and keeps its hopes of making the Great Northwest Athletic Conference alive heading into the final game of the regular season.
 
The Wildcats are now in a three-way tie with Northwest Nazarene, Montana State Billings for the sixth and final spot in the GNAC Tournament.  If the Wildcats win on Saturday against Alaska Anchorage, they will CWU will enter tiebreaker scenarios with up to four other schools to decide the final three spots in the tournament.  According to the GNAC tiebreaker scenarios, the Wildcats do not have a chance of making the tournament with a loss on Saturday.
 
"We came up here knowing we needed to get wins,"  CWU Head Coach Greg Sparling said.  "We are taking it one game at a time. We got this one out of the way, now its time to step up against a good Anchorage team who has a lot to fight for."
 
The Wildcat offensive attack was well balanced with 10 players scoring points in the contest and Chris-Michael Garret leading the charge with 14 points of the bench.  Both Dom Hunter and Marc Rodgers added 13 points, with Hunter grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.
 
Both teams were virtually identical from the field, with the Nanooks taking a slight lead in shooting percentage at 41.9 to 41.8.  The Wildcats were 6 of 21 from three-point territory while Alaska was 5 of 21.  Central dominated the glass, taking a 46-30 advantage in rebounds, and scored 14 points off of 10 offensive rebounds.
 
"I thought we shared the ball well and played outstanding defense tonight," Sparling added.  "But our rebounding won this game.  We got after more balls on both sides of the court and when you can outrebound you opponent like we did tonight, good things are going to happen."
 
The Wildcats held a 38-32 lead entering halftime, after leading by as many as 12.  Central shot 42.9 percent in the half and made 9 of 11 shots from the free throw line.
 
The Wildcats also held a 12 point lead in the second half, on three different occasions before hitting 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to grind out he 74-67 win.
 
Alaska had four players score in double figures with Brandon Davis scoring 14, followed by Nahjee Matlock with 13 and both Bangaly Kaba and LaDonovan Wilder adding 10.
 
The Wildcats wrap up its regular season this Saturday, Feb. 25 against Alaska Anchorage at 4 p.m. PST.