ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team takes on rival Western Washington University.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Feb. 1
Vs Western Washington
7:15 p.m.
Nicholson Pavilion
Ellensburg, WA
 
QUOTABLE
"Western is oe of the best teams in the conference and on the west coast,"  CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said.  "We are going to have to do the same job on the offensive glass.  I thought our guys did a good job limiting the offensive boards."
 
SCOUTING WESTERN WASHINGTON
WWU concludes its longest road trip of the season this week, traveling to play at NNU (Thursday) and CWU (Saturday). Coming off a 1-1 week with road tilts down I-5 at Seattle Pacific (L, 74-65) and Saint Martin's (W, 85-78). The Vikings return home next week to host the Alaska schools, beginning a stretch of 5 of 7 games in Carver Gym.
 
WWU has battled the injury bug all season, playing the last three games without senior starting center Logan Schilder and the last two games without senior starting guard Siaan Rojas. In 18 games this season, the Vikings have used six different starting lineups. Here is a look at WWU's starting 5 in each game this season:
 
Western had its season-high 8-game winning streak snapped last Thursday at first-place Seattle Pacific. Was the 22^nd winning streak of 8-or-more games in program history. WWU has still won 11 of its last 13 games and 9 of 10.  Sophomore Jalen Green is averaging 13.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.3 steals per game, and is the Vikings leading scorer averaging 15.0 points per game in GNAC play. Green has scored in double-digits in 15 of 18 games (all starts) and 12 of his last 13 games.
 
Schilder ranks 3^rd in the GNAC averaging 1.6 blocked shots per game in 14 games this season. The 7-footer has recorded 121 career blocked shots, 14^th-most among active NCAA II players and 6^th-most in WWU history (13^th in GNAC history). He has missed the last 3 games with injury.
 
Redshirt freshman guard D'Angelo Minnis is averaging 12.0 points and 3.2 assists per game while starting all 18 games this season. Scored in double-digits in 11 of 18 games (5 of last 6).
 
LAST TIME OUT
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.
 
 
CWU v WWU EARLIER THIS SEASON
The Wildcats climbed out to a 10-1 advantage in the first half, but the Vikings controlled the remainder of the game.

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.