BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Central Washington University men's basketball team (7-4, 0-3 GNAC) fell to Western Washington University (7-4, 2-1 GNAC) in the first game of 2020.

The Wildcats climbed out to a 10-1 advantage in the first half, but the Vikings controlled the remainder of the game.

"We started the game in a good rhythm and defended well in the first half," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said.  "We just couldn't but a basket after about the 10-minute mark.  The second half, we got away from defending like we need to to beat a good team like Western."

Matt Poquette started the scoring for the Wildcats, before Davon Bolton hit a pair of free throws.  After a free throw from Western's Trevor Jasinsky, and one from Poquette, Bolton knocked down a trey for an 8-1 lead in favor of CWU.  A jumper from Kevin Baker put Central ahead 10-1, before the Vikings' offense found its rhythm.  

Western scored nine unanswered points, tying the game at 10-10 with 12:17 left in the first half.  A three from Bolton was quickly wiped away by a trey from Leif Anderson.  The Vikings began slowly extending their lead reaching a double digit lead with 5:10 to play in the first half.  

A pair of free throws from Poquette with 2:49 left in the opening stanza dipped the Vikings' lead  to eight, 30-22, but Anderson knocked down a jumper to reestablish the double digit lead.  Jumpers from Tariq Woody and Xavier Smith brought the half within seven, but a three from Siaan Rojas gave Western its third double digit advantage of the half with 46 seconds left.

Central scored the final three points of the half on a free throw Poquette and a layup from Bolton.  The Wildcats went into the locker room trailing 39-29.

The second half wasn't kinder to the Crimson and Black.  Western extended its lead to 19, on a three from Rojas, four minutes into the second half.  Central chipped away at the deficit, dropping it to 10 with 13:05 left in regulation.  Woody picked up six points in the run, Jeryn Lucas added five.  The Vikings' offense found another rhythm, however, and pushed their lead back to 19 with 7:38 remanning in regulation.  They held the double digit advantage for the remainder fo the contest.  

Bolton led the Wildcats with 18 points.  He shot 50 percent from the floor and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the charity stripe.  Bolton also recorded five rebounds and two assists. Micah Pollard recorded 11 points, while Poquette chipped in 10.  Poquette also recorded nine rebounds and a pair of blocks.  Baker copped in eight points and seven rebounds.  

Central Washington is back in action on Saturday (Jan. 4) as they travel to Burnaby, British Columbia for a GNAC matchup against Simon Fraser.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.