ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Nov. 21) – The Central Washington University men's basketball team (3-2) handily defeated Evergreen State College (4-4), 111-65, in their final game before Thanksgiving. 
 
"I thought our ball movement was pretty good," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said.  "We'll take 27 assists and eight turnovers in any game this year.  I think our shooting tonight goes back to our ball movement.  What we focused on in the second half was defending a little better, which I thought we did.  We got a bit relaxed late in the first half and allowed Evergreen to get comfortable and find a rhythm.  They get the ball out and push it quickly, so transition defense was really important for us tonight.  We had a few lapses in the first half, but I felt we tightened that up in the second."
 
From the onset, the Wildcats controlled the pace of play against the Geoducks.  Central staked out a 7-2 advantage in the first minute, before opening their first 10-point lead just five minutes into the contest, 21-10.
 
Thanksgiving traffic didn't put the Wildcats in a fowl mood in the first half, as they scored 30 points in the paint, 20 off of turnovers, and the bench chipped in 21. 
 
A trey from Nygil Carr gave the 'Cats their first 20-point cushion with 9:35 on the clock.  Carr knocked down consecutive three's, hitting from behind the arc just over 30 seconds before as well. 
 
The Geoducks slowed the Wildcats' offense a touch, dropping CWU's advantage to 18, 44-26, with a three from Hanley Shum.  Jeryn Lucas responded with a three of his own 24 seconds later to put the Wildcats back up by 21. 
 
Central's lead hovered near 20 for the remainder of the half, before Gamaun Boykin hit a layup as time expired.  The Crimson and Black took a 55-34 lead into the locker room at the half.
 
The Wildcats' second helping was more of the same.  The Crimson and Black pushed their lead upward, hitting a 30-point lead with 14:39 to play on a dunk from Matt Poquette.  They hit a 40-point advantage with 4:38 to play on a three by Naim Ladd, bringing the score to 99-58.  The Crimson and Black eclipsed the century mark with a layup from Andreas Brown a minute later. 
 
The Wildcats shot 54.5 percent from the floor, including knocking down 60.61 percent of their shots in the second half.
 
"We were swinging the ball well tonight," Cola said afterward.  "When we swing the ball around we can create open shots."
 
Kartsen Chaplik stepped on the gravy train with 10 seconds to play for the game's final points, draining a three to put CWU up 111-65.
 
Six Wildcats finished in double digit scoring, led by Lucas (16).  Cola (15), Poquette (13), Boykin (10), Hayden Nelson (10), and Carr (10) also found their way to a double-digit night.  Cola led the Wildcats in rebounding, hauling in five boards with three coming on offense. 
 
The Crimson and Black finished with 56 points in the paint, 36 points off of turnovers, and 60 points from their bench. 

Central Washington is back in action on Saturday (Nov. 24) for a non-conference contest against Corban University.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.