ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Mar. 1) – After a tough start in the first half, the Central Washington Unviersty men's basketball team forced overtime against Saint Martin's University in the quarterfinals of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament.  The Saints were able to hang on for an 86-84 win.
 
The Wildcats fall to 15-13, while the Saints improve to 23-6 and move on to the semifinals against Western Washington.
 
The Wildcats forced overtime when Jawan Stepney hit a 17-footer with six seconds left, tying the contest at 76-76. The overtime played close until a pair of Rhett Baerlocher free throws put the Saints ahead 85-81 with 19 seconds to go. Free throws by Baerlocher and EJ Boyce, along with a pair of defensive stops, allowed SMU to escape with the win. The game was just the second overtime battle in tournament history.
 
Both offenses were dismal in overtime, as both sides converted on just one shot (CWU 1-9; SMU 1-3).  The difference came at the free throw line, where the Saints knocked down 7-of-12, while the Wildcats made just 5-of-6.
 
The Wildcats finished with a shooting percentage of 46 percent, as did Saint Martin's.  At the charity stripe, the Wildcats outperformed the Saints.  They knocked down 19-of-27, while the Saints only converted just 17-of-28.  Central collected 35 total rebounds, 14 assists, five blocks, and eight steals.
 
Khalil Shabazz led the Wildcats with 23 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, and four steals.  From the field, Shabazz finished 7-for-13, including a 2-for-3 mark from beyond the arc.   Sage Woodruff finished with 15 points, while Stepney rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Wildcats with 11. 
 
The Saints jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the first half and paced themselves to a nine-point lead with 12:01 to play in the first.  Naim Ladd sparked a 16-7 run over the next four minutes with Cameron Williams tying it at 26-26 with his jumper with 6:11 left in the period.
 
After both teams settled back in, the Saints clamped back down defensively.  They went on a 12-4 run to close out the half.  A three-pointer gave the Saints a 10-point lead with just 16 seconds to play in the half. 
 
The Saints stayed hot from the field over the first 10 minutes of the season half, taking a 56-44 lead on Tavian Henderson's lay-in and the building a game-best 67-53 advantage on Kitchen's three-pointer, but foul trouble for Chavez and Dahlen opened the door for the Wildcats to tighten things up. Chavez would foul out of the game with 1:20 left in the second half, which proved a game-changing factor.

Shabazz brought CWU within one, 69-68, with his lay-in with 2:44 left, only to watch SMU go on a 5-0 run to take the 74-68 advantage on Standley's free throws with a minute left in regulation. Woodruff closed the game to within 76-74 with his three-pointer with 16 seconds left and Stepney forced overtime when his 17-footer with six seconds left tied it at 76-76.
With the Wildcats missing Fuquan Niles and the Saints missing Chavez, both sides needed help from their bench in the overtime period.  The Wildcats' bench chipped in five points in the overtime period.
 

 
GNACsports.com contributed to this release.