ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Jan. 24) –  The Central Washington University men's basketball team (9-8, 3-6) fell to Western Oregon University (14-4, 7-2) 89-57 Thursday evening in the Nicholson Pavilion.
 
The visitors hot shooting first half carried the Wolves to a 25-point halftime advantage. WOU shot a sweltering 11-for-18 from beyond the arc in the half and 57 percent from the field. The home team was not able to recover in the second half and allowed an 11-0 run late in the game to seal their fate.
 
Matt Poquette led the Crimson and Black with 17 points and Nygil Carr chipped in seven points off the bench. The home team shot just 35 percent for the game and turned it over 13 times.
 
The visitors punched first in the opening minutes of play putting together an 11-2 lead shooting 60 percent from beyond the arc. Central recovered and nailed five of their next eight shots but still found themselves down 26-14 with 10:19 remaining in the half.
 
"I felt like the first two-three possessions we were where we needed to be defensively," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said. "They knocked down some shots, from there it just snowballed."
 
The Crimson and Black continued their shooting woes for the following few minutes, netting just one of five. The Wolves shot four-for-seven during that stretch, a 10-2 run, and boosted their lead to 36-16 with 7:10 remaining in the period.
 
The teams closed the half trading baskets while the Wolves cooled off from deep. The visitors nailed eight of 11 from beyond the arc in the half and their bench contributed 14 points as well. The Wildcats improved their shooting slightly in the final minutes shooting three for seven including two three pointers.
 
The Wildcats allowed five offensive rebounds for the visitors leading to nine second-chance points and trailed 53-28 at the halfway point. Poquette led CWU with 12 points in a starting role and Hayden Nelson added four points off the bench.
 
The foes started the second half trading hoops, similar to the conclusion on the second. Jeryn Lucas scored seven of the Wildcats first 13 in the period as the home team trim the deficit to 23 points with 13:33 remaining in the game.
 
Naim Ladd pitched in five points down the stretch as the Wildcats cut the deficit to 18 points early in the second half. From that point on, the visitors closed the contest on a 32-18 run, including 11 in a row in the final minutes.
 
"We weren't quite able to find the level, sustain the level we needed defensively to guard those guys," Rinta said. "They're too good of a defensive team for us to have that kind of defensive performance."
 
The Wildcats look to bounce back against Concordia on Saturday at home. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.