ELLENSBURG, Wash. (March 2) – The Central Washington University men's basketball team (11-17, 5-15) fell to Saint Martins University (24-4, 17-3) in double overtime 105-96 in the Wildcat's season finale Saturday evening in  Nicholson Pavilion.
 
Jeryn Lucas led the Crimson and Black with 27 points on 9-for-19 shooting along with five rebounds. Naim Ladd and Gamaun Boykin added 16 points each and the Wildcats shot 54 percent from the field for the contest. The visitors outscored the Wildcat's bench by a decisive 37-24 margin.
 
"I can't take anything away from our guys," Head Coach Brandon Rinta said. "They battled tonight and I thought in many ways played well enough to win and maybe deserved to win."
 
Ladd's game winning three-point shot just missed and the game was sent to an extra period. Neither team could separate in the overtime, forcing a second overtime. The visitors converted multiple and-one chances down the stretch of the second extra period to close the game and earn the nine-point victory.
 
Both teams came bursting out of the gates in the first period with back-to-back three-pointers from both. Central buried another from beyond the arc a minute later to bring their lead to 12-6 four minutes into the contest.
 
The Crimson and Black continued their hot shooting from beyond the arc the remainder of the period, shooting an astonishing 7-for-12. However, the visitors found their shooting stroke as well, erasing an eight-point Wildcat lead with an 18-to-10 run, including three from beyond the arc.
 
After leveling the score at 31, the teams traded baskets for the closing minutes of the half. Lucas paced the home team with 10 first-half points and Ladd pitched in nine of his own, all from beyond the arc. The Crimson and Black shot 58 percent from the field and took a narrow 40-38 lead into the break.
 
The Saints quickly tied the contest at 42 just a minute into the second period. From that point, the visitors scored eight of the next 13 points, including six in a row to take a narrow three-point advantage with just under 16 minutes remaining in the game.
 
The teams traded baskets for the following several minutes with neither stringing together more than four-straight. The Saints momentarily pushed their lead to seven after nailing back-to-back shots from beyond the arc, but the Wildcats quickly responded with thirteen of the next nineteen to tie the contest at 70 with just over five minutes left in the game.
 
The teams continued to trade baskets for the following few minutes. The Crimson and Black strung together five-straight before the visitors countered with six-straight to regain the lead with just under two minutes remaining.
 
Lucas closed out regulation with four straight points, including two from the charity stripe to give the home team a 79-76 advantage. Saint Martins tied the game on a three point shot resulting from a broken play with just 20 seconds left in regulation.
 
"They're an extremely senior laden team," Rinta said. "They never panicked and were able to make big shots there when they needed to."
 
Boykin scored six points in the first overtime, but neither team created any separation going basket for basket throughout. The Saint's half-court heave at the buzzer came up short after Ladd lost the dribble in the paint on the prior Central possession.
 
"Their guard got loose there in the second overtime and we weren't able to keep him in front," Rinta said. "That really ended up being the difference."
 
With the loss, the Wildcats finished ninth in the GNAC standings for the season, missing a berth in the GNAC Championship. Only the top six teams qualify for the tournament.