ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball lost its fifth straight game Saturday evening, falling to Montana State University Billings 69-96 inside Nicholson Pavilion.
 
With the loss, the Wildcats stand with a 12-8 record, and fall to 7-7 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, which is good enough for sixth place.  The Yellowjackets improve to 13-9, 8-6 in the GNAC.
 
The Wildcats struggled offensively, shooting 39.1 percent from the field and just 6.3 percent from beyond the arc.  Central attempted 16 shots from three and made one, off the hands of Terry Dawn in the first half.
 
Billings on the other hands, had a hot night, connecting on 14 of 29 three pointers and shot 47.9 percent from the field.
 
Fuquan Niles led CWU with 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks while shooting 5 of 9 from the field.  Jawan Stepney also shot 5 of 9 and scored 15 points, adding five rebounds and two steals.
 
It was a rough night for the Wildcats leading scorers, Dom Hunter and Naim Ladd.  The two combined to shoot 6 of 18 from the field scoring 12 points.  This was Ladd's first action in two games since injuring his foot against Concordia on Jan. 26.
 
The Yellowjackets got a huge game from sophomore Preston Beverly who scored 32 points and hauled down 11 rebounds.  Beverly was 12 of 19 from the field, including 4 of 6 from downtown.
 
The Wildcats will look to end its five-game skid when they travel to Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific on Feb. 9 and 11, respectively.