ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team (5-2, 0-1 GNAC) fell to Seattle Pacific University (4-4, 1-0 GNAC), 76-66.
"I thought Seattle Pacific was playing well," CWU Head Coach
Brandon Rinta said. "I thought we did a good job of disrupting them a little bit, taking them out of what they wanted to do in terms of throwing the ball inside. Anytime a team that big is knocking down shots like that, it's going to be tough, they shot it really well. We have to do a better job of keeping teams out of the paint and the key, a lot of their threes were inside out and that's one of the highest percentage threes you can take. Offensively, I thought we did a good job taking care of the basketball. Credit to them defensively, I thought they defended hard."
Tariq Woody won the opening tip-off and scored the contest's first points on the Wildcats' opening possession. The Falcons responded quickly with a three from Harry Cavell, taking a 3-2 lead.
Central regained the lead a few minutes later.
Kevin Baker put Central Washington ahead 12-11 with a layup at 13:55. Another quick response from Seattle Pacific, this time from Mehdi Al Mardi, put the Falcons back on top, 13-11.
The Falcons' next possession was stymied by the Wildcats. The Crimson and Black forced an over and back, before a jumper from
Jeryn Lucas forced another lead change, 14-13, in favor of Central Washington. The Wildcats and Falcons traded a few baskets before Lucas pushed the Wildcats' lead to 21-17 at 10:32. Lucas' basket was Central's last points for nearly four and a half minutes.
Seattle Pacific took advantage of the drought, staking out a 32-21 advantage.
Xavier Smith ended the scoreless streak at 6:02 with a pair of free throws. The Falcons outscored Central 15-2 during the run. By 1:41 left on the clock in the opening stanza, Seattle Pacific held a 39-30 lead. They took a 41-32 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
Lucas led the Wildcats with nine points, while Smith recorded seven. Central shot 43.3 percent from the floor in the first half. The Falcons picked up 11 points from Shaw Anderson and 10 points from Cavell. Seattle Pacific scored 20 points in the paint, while Central managed 12.
The first half saw nine lead changes, but Seattle Pacific held the lead for 16:09.
Central Washington chipped away at the deficit until Baker struck from deep with 12:09 on the clock, bringing the score line to 52-51 in favor of the Falcons. Just 43 seconds later, Baker hit another trey for a 54-52 CWU lead. The Falcons wasted no time levelling the score. A layup from Cavell 20 seconds later tied the game at 54.
"We battled back, it's nice to have Kevin [Baker] back," Rinta added. "You can see the dimension he brings and he helped us get back in. Ultimately, that last run, we weren't able to sustain that level of defense that got us back into the game."
Two minutes later, Divant'e Moffitt knocked down a three for Seattle Pacific for a 57-54 lead. The Falcons were able to extend their lead to 64-58 with five and a half minutes remaining in regulation. They extended their advantage to 10, with a three from Filip Fullerton, a minute and a half later at 69-59.
Micah Pollard knocked down a trey 20 seconds later, bringing the deficit to 69-62.
Seattle Pacific's lead hovered around double digits for the remainder of the contest. The Falcons ended the contest with 36 points in the paint.
The Wildcats' bench provided over 50 percent of CWU's offense, recording 36 points. Baker and Lucas led the Wildcats with 14 points each. Baker also recorded four assists, four rebounds, and one assist.
"Different guys had different moments," Rinta noted. "We had some different lineups that were better defensively, some better offensively. Jeryn [Lucas] had some good moments on offense and sparked us, but I thought we need to do a better job of moving the basketball."
Central Washington is back in action on Saturday when the Wildcats host Saint Martin's University at 7:15 p.m. inside Nicholson Pavilion.
