Men's Basketball | 2/14/2018 2:29:00 PM

GAME 24 | Central Washington (14-9, 9-7) vs. Concordia (Ore.) (4-20, 0-16)
Date/Tipoff: Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018 | 7 p.m. PST
Location: Ellensburg, WA (Nicholson Pavilion)
 
GAME 25 | Central Washington (14-9, 9-7) vs. No. 4 Western Oregon (23-1, 15-1)
Date/Tipoff: Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018 | 7 p.m. PST
Location: Ellensburg, WA (Nicholson Pavilion)

Live Stats for both games can be found at Wildcatsports.com/live

LAST TIME OUT
The men's basketball team traveled North last week to face the Alaskan schools. The Wildcats picked up a 79-76 victory over Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday, followed by a lost to Alaska Anchorage, 54-70, on Saturday. 

Khalil Shabazz led the Wildcats against the Nanooks, scoring a game-high 26 points, going 9 of 17 from the field and hauled in a season-high nine rebounds. He got help off the bench from Sage Woodruff who finished with 15 points, 12 of which came from long range where he connected on 4 of 6 shots in the contest.
 
Fuquan Niles finished with nine points, five rebounds and five blocks in just 27 minutes of action due to foul trouble.
 
Central Washington shot an even 50-percent from the field (28 of 56), while holding the Nanooks to a 41.9-percent shooting clip.  The Wildcats were also efficient from three, going 7 for 16.
 
The Wildcat's six game win streak came to an end with a 70-54 loss to Alaska Anchorage. Central Washington struggled from the field throughout the length of the game, making 19 of 59 shots from the field (32.2-Percent), including 3 of 19 from three.  The Wildcats did take advantage of a large rebounding advantage, grabbing 41 missed shots in the game, including 20 on the offensive end that turned into 17 points.
 
Cameron Williams led the Wildcats with 13 points off the bench, making 5 of 8 shots and grabbing eight rebounds.  Niles was a rebound away from a double-double scoring 10 points to go along with his nine boards.
 
SCOUTING CONCORDIA
The Cavaliers have had a difficult 2017-18 campaign, still looking for their first conference victory of the season. CU is currently riding a 20-game losing streak dating back to their 79-90 loss to Corban University on Nov. 21. The Wildcats defeated Concordia earlier this season (111-100) in a game that featured two overtime periods.
 
The Cavaliers fell to Saint Martin's (58-71) and Seattle Pacific (70-80) last week. Brian Michaels led Concordia against the Falcons, scoring a team-high 23 points, while Jarrett Gray chipped in 15 points.
 
Jarrett has led the Cavaliers offensively this season, scoring an average of 16.8 points per game. Christopher Edwards (15.6) and Michaels (12.3) also average double-digit scoring efforts for the Cavaliers. Leading Concordia on the glass is Edwards with 10.4 rebounds per game, and Cody Starr dishes out a team-high 4.4 assists/game.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN OREGON
Western Oregon enters the week ranked fourth in the NABC Coaches Poll and in sole possession of first place in the GNAC standings. The Wolves hold the best winning margin (16.9), field goal percentage (51.6), defensive field goal percentage (42.3), assists (17.3/game), steals (9.5/game), and turnover margin ( 3.62) in the GNAC.
 
The Wolves have a balanced scoring effort with four players averaging more than 10 points per game. Tanner Omlid leads the squad with 13.7 points per game, followed by Ali Faruq-Bey (10.9/game), Demetrius Trammel (10.1/game), and Vince Boumann (10.1/game). Omlid also leads the team and ranks tenth in the GNAC with 6.2 rebounds per game and records a league-high 2.5 steals per contest. Malik Morgan dishes out a team-high 3.8 assists per game, which ranks seventh in the conference.
 
Last week, the Wolves defeated Seattle Pacific (95-81) and Saint Martin's (86-73). WOU led for all bet 24 seconds in their victory over the Saints, with Faruq-Bey leading the team with a game-high 24 points.
 
With the win, the Western Oregon (23-1, 15-1 GNAC) has clinched a top-2 seed and a first-round bye at the GNAC tournament. The top six teams in the GNAC standings will qualify for the postseason tournament with the top two seeds receiving first-round byes.
 
SENIOR NIGHT
The Central Washington men's basketball team will honor six seniors on Saturday. Marc Rodgers, Sage Woodruff, Jawan Stepney, Jerome Bryant, Austin Houtz, and Fuquan Niles will be honored in pregame ceremonies prior to tip-off with Western Oregon.
 
FORECASTING THE GNAC TOURNAMENT
With four games left to play, the Wildcats currently sit in fourth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  The top six teams earn a berth to the 2018 GNAC Championships in Anchorage, Alaska on Mar. 1-3.
 
The Wildcats are a half-game ahead of Seattle Pacific and carries a one game lead over both Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks who are tied for sixth place.  Northwest Nazarene is in eighth place but is only two games back of the Wildcats.
 
Western Oregon and Western Washington have already clinched a spot in the conference championship tournament, and Saint Martin's holds down the third spot two-and-a-half games ahead of CWU.