ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Jan. 5) -- The Central Washington University men's basketball team (7-5, 1-3) erased an 11-point deficit to force overtime and defeat the visiting Montana State Billings Yellowjackets (7-5, 2-2) at Nicholson Pavilion Saturday evening.
 
Junior guard Gamaun Boykin nailed a three pointer from the corner at the buzzer to tie the game and force the extra period. After trading baskets for the opening few minutes of overtime, Central finally took the lead 96-95 after two made free throws. The Wildcats defense locked down from that point on, allowing the visitors just seven more points down the stretch.
 
"Credit to my teammates, we moved the ball and we were really unselfish," Boykin said. "I was able to get a pass from my teammate, Jackson Price, and I was able to hit the shot. We were resilient, we didn't quit. We wanted this win really bad. We did our best and gave it our best effort."
 
Once the Wildcats snatched the lead in overtime, they never looked back. Boykin made 7-8 free throws and senior guard Jackson Price added two more to secure the victory for the Crimson and Black.
 
"The overtime was back and forth," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said. "Our guys kept fighting to get the ball inside, swinging the basketball and working inside out. We were finally able to rebound at a little bit higher level in overtime."
 
Boykin led Central with 34 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Freshman forward Zellie Hudson added 26 points and eight rebounds off the bench. The Wildcat's bench as a unit outscored the visitors 40-15.
 
The Wildcats trailed early on shooting just 2-7 in the opening five minutes of the game, while allowing the Yellowjackets to build an 11-4 lead. CWU recovered and tied the game at 16 at the halfway point of the first half behind 10 points from Boykin.
 
"There were more charges in that game than I have ever seen," Rinta said. "When we attack, we have to do a better job of coming to a jump stop. I thought we did a pretty good job of taking care of the basketball other than that. A few too many defensive break downs in the first half, but I thought our guys did a better job of tighten down, especially late. There hasn't been any quit in this team all year. It's good to see them be rewarded with an exciting win like that."
 
After an 8-2 run by MSUB put the visitors up 24-18, the Wildcats followed with a 14-8 run of their own. Central nailed back-to-back three-pointers and made four-straight from beyond the arc during the run to tie the game again at 32 with 3:41 remaining in the first half.
 
MSUB closed the half outscoring the Wildcats 11-5 behind four points from sophomore forward Zharon Richmond and few untimely turnovers by Central. The Yellowjackets broke a full court press to score with just 30 seconds remaining in the half. The visitors led at the end of the half 43-37.
 
The second half opened with the teams trading buckets. The Wildcats made 4-5 shots to open the period, while the Yellowjackets were 4-7, hitting two from beyond the arc. The 'Jackets expanded their lead to ten with 8:23 remaining in the contest behind 45 percent shooting from the arc in the period. Senior guard Zack Rollins paced the visitors with 19 points on 50 percent shooting and 5-10 from three. Rollins finished the game with 31 for the Yellowjackets.
 
After shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, the Wildcats flipped the script and nailed 7-12 threes in the second.
 
The victory over the Yellowjackets was the first GNAC win of the season for the Crimson and Black.
 
"It meant everything for us, our team and the coaches," Boykin said. "For most of us, it's our first year here and to get that first conference home win while putting on a good show for the crowd. We just got to keep rolling now and move onto the next one." 
 
The Wildcats aim for consecutive victories against Simon Fraser University on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 7:30 in Nicholson Pavilion.