ELLENSBURG, Wash.- Central Washington's Sage Woodruff scored a game-high 23 points as the Wildcats managed to escape Nicholson Pavilion with an 80-76 win over Concordia University Thursday evening.
 
"We came out thinking we were going to win this game easily," CWU assistant head coach Drew Harris explained. "We didn't play hard enough or with enough urgency in the first half. At halftime, we just told the guys that they needed to play harder and want it more. Part of Concordia's game plan was to crash the glass, and they executed that well. We will need to be more disciplined on Saturday if we want to beat a very good Western Oregon team."
 
Senior center Fuquan Niles finished three blocks shy of recording his first-ever triple double as a Wildcat. The Seattle, Wash. native posted 12 points, ten rebounds and seven blocks to help the Wildcats in all facets of the game. Jawan Stepney chipped in 15 points, on 7-of-13 shooting, and four assists as CWU improved to 15-9 and 10-7 in GNAC play. The Cavaliers remain winless in conference play and are now 4-21 overall.
 
Central Washington saw its six-point lead to open the game diminish a little more than midway through the first half. The Cavaliers continued to control the pace of play for the remainder of the frame as the Wildcats struggled to maintain possession of the ball. The Cavalier defense forced 11 first half turnovers, while committing just seven. Concordia also dominated the Wildcats on the glass, hauling in 12 offensive rebounds compared to CWU's three. Concordia would take an eight-point lead into the locker room (37-29).
 
CWU shot 39.5 percent from the field, while the Cavaliers posted a 41.9 percent effort in the first half. Concordia also held the advantage in second chance points (15-2) and points off turnovers (14-6). The Wildcats did manage to reject six Cavalier shots compared to CU's one.
 
The Wildcats opened the second quarter on a 13-6 run behind five points by Malik Montoya and four from Niles. The Wildcats came within one (43-42), but a 6-0 run with 10:50 remaining allowed the Cavaliers to regain a ten-point lead. The Wildcats continued to chip away at CU's lead and a jumper by Stepney allowed CWU to grab their first lead in over 27 minutes of action, 71-69. The Wildcats outscored the Cavaliers 51-39 in the second half on the way to an 80-76 victory.
 
The Wildcats' defense came alive in the second half, limiting Concordia to just a 27-percent shooting percentage. The Central Washington coaching staff also made great adjustments out of the intermission, as the Wildcats only turned the ball over twice down the stretch.

The Wildcats will wrap-up this week's action against the Oregon teams this Saturday as they host No. 4 Western Oregon University at 7 p.m. PST in Nicholson Pavilion.
 
-CWU-