MONMOUTH, Ore.- Senior Sage Woodruff registered his eighth double-figure scoring effort of the season with a team-high 15 points, but the Central Washington University men's basketball team (8-8, 3-6 GNAC) was handed an 89-70 road loss to the No. 9-ranked Western Oregon Wolves (16-1, 8-1 GNAC) Thursday evening in the New PE Building.
 
Woodruff just missed setting a new season-high with his 15-point effort, which came on 4-of-9 shooting from the field. He also added three rebounds to his statline.
 
Malik Montoya added 10 points, while Khalil Shabazz also totaled 10 points. Senior Jawan Stepney led the Wildcats defensively with two steals, while adding eight points, five rebounds and four assits.
 
Western Oregon took a 41-26 lead into halftime after shooting .500 (17-of-34) from the field and limiting the Wildcats to just a .294 (10-of-34) effort.
 
CWU opened the second half with back-to-back layups by Stepney, cutting WOU's lead to 41-31. The Wildcats pulled within six (49-43), but would trade buckets with the home team throughout the majority of the second half. Leading by 12 with 5:35 remaining, Western Oregon strung together a 10-4 run to extend their lead to 78-60. The Wolves continued to apply pressure for the remainder of the game, cruising to an 89-70 victory. 
 
The Wildcats fell to 3-6 in conference play and now stand with a 8-8 record on the season.
 
Central Washington finished the contest shooting .354 (23-of-65) from the field, while WOU tallied a .544 (37-of-68) clip on the night. The Wolves shot 41-percent from beyond the arc, and managed to make nine three-pointers compared to CWU's eight in the game.
 
CWU lost the rebounding advantage, 40-35 overall, but the Wildcats totaled 15 offensive rebounds, which turned into 13 second-chance points.
 
UP NEXT
The Wildcats wrap-up its two-game road swing through Oregon, taking on the Concordia University Cavaliers this Saturday, Jan. 20, in Portland, Ore. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. PST at LCEF Court.