ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team takes on Western Oregon University in a GNAC matchup on the road.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, January 25
At Western Oregon
4:15 p.m.
Monmouth, OR
 
QUOTABLE
"Western Oregon has some dynamic guards that are tough to keep in front and can really shoot it," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said.  "We are going to need a great performance from our perimeter defense to limit them."
 
SCOUTING WESTERN OREGON | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2018-19 STATS | 2019-20 STATS
The Wolves enter the week with a 10-5 record overall.  They sit a 4-5 in GNAC play.  At home, Western Oregon is 5-2 on the season and recorded their second home loss against Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, 87-82.
 
After 20 minutes of play, WOU led 45-37.  Another comeback effort from a Northwest Nazarene team denied Western Oregon their second potential victory during the men's and women's basketball doubleheader.  The Nighthawks outscored Western Oregon 50-37 in the second half to capture the victory.
 
The Wolves led for a great majority of the game, jumping out to a lead early thanks to forcing 11 first-half turnovers and hitting seven 3-pointers. Northwest Nazarene (8-6, 5-4 GNAC) started the game cold from deep, hitting 28.6 percent of 3s in the opening half.

Western went into the locker room leading 45-37, led by the 14 points of Jaylyn Richardson and 13 from Cameron Cranston. Richardson finished with a game-high 23 points, adding on five rebounds and an assist. Cranston hit the 20-point threshold for the fourth time this season and his second consecutive game, dropping 22 with six boards and a dime.

The second half opened seemingly the same way the first half played out with the Wolves controlling play and maintaining their lead close to 10 points. WOU led in double figures as late as the 11:32 mark of the second half at 68-58 before NNU began their push.

The Nighthawks went on 14-4 run to follow and tie it up with 5:13 left, the first time they had been back to even since early on in the first half. That was followed by a 9-0 rally just a few possessions later to jump their lead out to as many as eight.

In total, Western Oregon led for 33:22 of the 40-minute contest while Northwest Nazarene held the advantage for just 3:58 of play.

Trailing by five in the closing seconds with the ball, Western Oregon could not get a late 3-pointer to fall, draining off the last 24 seconds of play to be handed a costly conference loss.
 
Four Western Oregon players are producing 10 or more points per game.  Dalven Brushier leads the group, averaging 18.6 points per game.  Behind him is Darius Lubom (15.1), Cranston (13.5), and Richardson (12.6).
 
John Morrill-Keeler leads in the rebounding department with an average of 5.1rebounds per game.  The Wolves are being out rebounded by their opponents 33.5-31.1.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats took down Concordia (Ore.) in a 65-56 affair.  Both offenses struggled to find a rhythm early with a total of 22 points scored in the first eight minutes of play.  After eight minutes, the Crimson and Black held a slim 12-10 advantage thanks to a layup from Gamaun Boykin.

Three and a half minutes later, Kevin Baker knocked down a jumper to extend Central's lead to four.  Two minutes after that, the Cavaliers went on a brief run to level the score at 14-14.  Momentum swung like a pendulum through the first half as neither team could establish dominance.  A layup from Concordia's Russell Tillery tied the game at 20-20 with 3:44 left before halftime.  

Central Washington strung together an 8-0 run in the final 3:44 of the first half, staking out a 28-20 lead at halftime.  The Wildcats shot 40 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, but only two of their buckets came from beyond the arc.  

Marqus Gilson nearly out rebounded the entirety of Concordia's roster in the first half alone.  The Cavaliers managed 11 boards as team, while Gilson hauled in eight.  Three of his eight first half rebounds came on offense.
 
Concordia opened the second half with back-to-back jumpers before Davon Bolton notched a trey for CWU and a 31-24 lead.  The Cavaliers cut the deficit down to just two four minutes into the second, but a three-point play from Bolton and a three from Lucas extended the lead to eight.

Gilson gave the Wildcats their first double digit lead of the evening at 12:25, 42-31.  Concordia managed to force the deficit under 10, but another three-point play from the Wildcats, this time from Boykin, made it 49-39.

Undeterred, Concordia set to work eliminating the Crimson and Black's lead, cutting the advantage to three.  Bolton responded with a jumper, before knocking down a fast break trey for a 54-46 lead.

For the final five minutes of the contest, the smallest deficit the Cavaliers faced was five, allowing the Wildcats to nab their third win in GNAC play.

Boykin led the Wildcats with 16 points, while Gilson and Bolton both recorded 11.  The final double-digit scorer for CWU was Jeryn Lucas, who finished with 10 points. Central scored 32 points in the paint, 20 points off turnovers, 14 second chance points, and the reserves combined for 33 points.