ELLENSBURG, Wash. –  Jeryn Lucas supplied 27 points for the Central Washington University men's basketball team as they held off Simon Fraser, 84-77.
 
The Wildcats (11-8 ,4-7 GNAC) and Clan (12-8, 5-6 GNAC) sputtered offensively to open up the contest. Simon Fraser led 7-6 with 15:05 left in the half when they'd score on back to back possessions to go up 11-6. Lucas and Matt Poquette answered by scoring for the Wildcats to cut the Clan's lead to 11-10 with 12:49 left in the first half.
 
A three-pointer from Lucas tied the game at 13 with 12:09 left in the first half. What followed was a 10-0 run from SFU that lasted 2:17. Head Coach Brandon Rinta had seen enough and called a 30-second timeout.
 
The Wildcats found their rhythm coming out of the timeout. Lucas hit a jumper, and followed it with a three-pointer on the next trip down the floor. The Crimson and Black had cut the SFU lead to 23-18.
 
The Wildcats continued to find the bottom of the net. This time, it was Micah Pollard who splashed home a three-pointer. Davon Bolton followed with a three-pointer of his own. Later, Pollard splashed home another three-pointer off of an assist from Lucas. The shot tied the game at 27 with 5:39 left in the first half. The Wildcats executed a 9-2 run to knot up the game.
 
The three-pointers didn't stop coming. After a media timeout, Lucas rattled home another from range, giving the Wildcats a 30-28 lead. Later in the half, he'd hit another, giving Central a 35-31 lead.
 
The Wildcats led 25-33 with 2:06 left in the first half when Lucas would bang another three-pointer. With the clock disappearing on the first half, Lucas was fouled attempting another three. He'd knock down all three free throws and send the Crimson and Black into halftime with a 45-37 lead.
 
Lucas was spectacular in the first half for the Wildcats. He scored 22-point son 7-11 shooting. The performances included a 5-8 performance from 3-point range. Lucas added two assists and two rebounds to a strong first half.
 
As a unit, the Wildcats went 16-28 (57.1) percent from the field. The team went 8-17 from deep. The bench provided a huge boost for the Wildcats in the first half. They scored 36 points, 32 more than SFU's bench. 
 
Central extended its lead to double digits just over five minutes into the second half on a jumper from Bolton, 53-42.  They pushed it to 21 four minutes later, 63-42, on another trey from Lucas.
 
Simon Fraser chipped away at Central's lead, knocking it down to 10 with 5:24 remaining on a pair of free throws from Jasdeep Singh.  After a brief dip under double digits, a free throw from Bolton pushed it back to 10, 78-68, with 3:05 to play.  Simon Fraser's comeback fell short, draining Central's lead to just four with 34 seconds remaining.  Three free throws from Boykin and Lucas iced the Wildcats' victory.
 
"I thought we played really well in the first half offensively," Rinta said.  "We got in a good rhythm, obviously Jeryn helped us get in that rhythym.  The thing with Jeryn, he was making shots, but he added assists, and. picked up a big rebound at the end.   Simon Fraser is a good team, they're a veteran team.  You knew they were going to make a comeback effort.  Our guys did a good job of making enough free throws.  Besides Jeryn, in off the bench, Gamaun off the bench did really well.  Micah gave us some really good minutes. If we can take care of the basketball like we did tonight, that's a world of difference for us."
 
Central's reserves finished the game with 60 points, while holding Simon Fraser to just nine points off the bench.  The Crimson and Black allowed only six offensive rebounds.  They finished with a shooting percentage of 49.1 and made 11 shots from deep.
 
The Wildcats are set to host rival Western Washington on Saturday at 7:15 p.m.