ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team defeated Montana State University Billings 77-73 Saturday evening to extend its winning streak to three games and moved to 6-6 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference Play.
 
The Wildcats now stand at 11-8 on the season while the Yellowjackets fall to 11-12, 3-9 in the GNAC, and are now riding a five-game losing streak.
 
Central Washington continued its hot shooting by knocking down 49.1-percent of their shots while holding MSUB to a 43.1 shooting clip.  Billings also shot 23.3-percent from three, making just 7 of 30 on the night.
 
Khalil Shabazz led the Wildcats with 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals.  Jawan Stepney added 15 on 6 of 10 shooting to go along with five boards and four assists.  Sage Woodruff and Fuquan Niles also score in double figures with 13 and 11, respectively.
 
Central Washington jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the game thanks to a pair of baskets by Shabazz and led 20-11 before a cold streak allowed MSUB to tie the game at 24 with 5:05 to go.  The lead exchanged hands six times throughout the remainder of the stanza, and the Yellowjackets entered halftime with a 33-31 lead over the Wildcats.
 
The Wildcats came out running in the second half thanks to eight quick points by Shabazz to pull ahead 38-35.  Back to back dunks by Niles and Stepney added to the advantage and a pair of free throws by Malik Montoya capped the second half run that gave the Wildcats a nine-point advantage, which was the largest lead in the game.
 
A back and forth battle ensued as the teams exchanged buckets for the next five minutes of play, and with 10 to go, the Yellowjackets mounted a comeback and pulled to within one of the Wildcats with 45 seconds to play.
 
Jawan Stepney put a seal on the victory with a long three pointer that just beat the shot clock to give the Wildcats the final 77-73 advantage with just 10 seconds to play.
 
The Wildcats pounded the paint in the second half, scoring 24 of their 34 points in the paint after halftime.
 
Central Washington also held a 40-36 edge in rebounding, and made the most of its eight offensive caroms in the game, scoring 14 second-chance points.
 
Montana State Billings was led by Kobe Terashima's game-high 24 points.  Zharon Richmond added 11, and Zack Rollins scored nine and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
 
The Wildcats return to action next Thursday when they square off with archrival Western Washington on Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m.  Thursdays game will be broadcast live on WatchESPN along with the women's game that tips at 5:15 p.m.