ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University men's basketball picked up a big win at home Saturday night as they blew out in-state rival Western Washington 82-60. The win improves CWU's record to 12-8 overall and 5-7 in the GNAC.
 
The win is also CWU head Coach Brandon Rinta's first against the Vikings (13-7, 8-4 GNAC). The win also snaps a three-game skid to WWU and is the first win at home for the Crimson and Black since the 2017-18 season.
 
"This is a special rivalry, it really is. Actually, Troy Nealey one of our administrators here came in and talked to the guys tonight," Coach Rinta noted. "It's changed a little bit over the years since they have dropped football. We've lost a built in 75-100 guys that absolutely hate that color but it's still good. The community knows about it and everybody that's been a part of this program knows about this rivalry so that makes tonight a little bit extra special."
 
Helping the Wildcats secure the monstrous win at home was consistent scoring throughout the game and balanced scoring from the team. CWU shot 48.3% from the floor overall and shot 10-23 from three-point range.
 
Central's bench also outscored the Viking reserves 34-21 and held a 16-2 edge on fast break points. Defense also showed for the Crimson and Black who held WWU to just four assists, all of which that came in the second half.
 
"I thought our guys had really good energy the whole night. For four weeks now we've won the Thursday game but just haven't had quite the same energy on Saturday," Coach Rinta said. "Everybody kind of challenged each other to have the same energy we had on Thursday night on Saturday if not even more which allowed us to get the weekend split which I thought was big."
 
The game showcased high tempo to start but the score did not reflect it right away. The game was tied at 4-all in the first three minutes of play and in the first five CWU only led by one, 7-6, over the Vikings.
 
Aggressive play along with the fast pace continued through the remainder of the first half. By the second media timeout, it was still a close game. Tied at 10-all with 11:40 on the clock, both squads continued to battle never let easy shots come.
 
Micah Pollard broke the 10-10 tie with a corner three with just over 10 minutes to play in the half. The three sparked an 8-0 run as Gamaun Boykin hit a layup in transition off a steal. Pollard then came back and nailed his second-straight triple to give CWU a 18-10 lead with 9:15 to play in the first.
 
The Vikings called a quick timeout after the 8-0 run to hopefully stop the bleeding. They got a quick shot out of the timeout but a three from Amari Stafford made it 21-12. Jeryn Lucas then drew a foul on a three-pointer. He nailed all three and CWU was up 24-12 with 8:15 to play.
 
Western looked to respond against the Central's 14-3 run but as the first half continued on, the Wildcats had an answer for every made shot by the visitors. They traded made shots in the final eight minutes, but the Wildcats maintained a 13-point lead, 37-24, at the break.
 
Balanced shots helped the Wildcats own a double figure lead at the break. Leading the Crimson and Black was Xavier Smith who had nine in the first 20 minutes. Pollard was right behind him with eight. As a team, CWU shot 38.7% and held WWU to 33.3%.
 
The Wildcats continued to shoot the ball coming out of the locker room as they stayed in front by double digits. By the first media timeout, CWU was shooting 5-7 overall and 3-5 from deep to lead 53-38. The Vikings were keeping pace shooting 6-9 overall and 2-4 from deep.
 
Western looked to close the gap against Central and got within 11, 53-42 with just over 14 minutes to play. The Wildcats made sure to stay in front by double figures with the help of a triple from Kevin Baker to make it 56-42 with 13:17 to play in regulation.
 
Baker's triple proved to be infectious as it was the start of a 7-0 run. Both sides of the ball were clicking for the Crimson and Black as WWU turnovers led to easy shots in transition. With 11:42 to play in the game, CWU led 60-42.
 
Out of the media timeout, WWU tried to end the CWU run but it grew to 15-0, with the next seven points coming from just one player in Lucas. He nailed a pair of jumpers and a corner three before WWU scored again. A shot from Western ended the run and CWU's lead was at 67-44.
 
Central's aggression showed no signs of slowing down. Each time the Vikings tried to piece together a comeback, it was shut down as the Wildcats continued to dictate the game's pace in the final 7:59 of play and hold on for the 22-point home win.
 
Smith led three players in double figure scoring with 25 points. He went 8-11 from the floor overall and was a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe. Lucas added 12 points off the bench, while Marqus Gilson chipped in 10 points. Baker was the team leader in boards with seven.
 
The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 35-29 and forced 14 WWU turnovers and had just 11 of their own. Points in the paint was split at 28-all. CWU also converted the 14 WWU turnovers to 23 points and gave up just 10.
 
"Both games our guys did a much better job of taking care of the ball. Our last three games [before this weekend] we were averaging 17 turnovers a game, but 10 on Thursday and 11 tonight that's a big deal for this team," Rinta added. "I got to give credit defensively, we were doing a lot of different things out there and they were able to continue to focus and make the adjustments. Again defensively, I think that's the end of the floor that was really able to give us that distance between them."
 
The Wildcats have a quick turnaround with their next home game this coming Tuesday, Feb. 4 against Northwest Nazarene. Tip-off against the Nighthawks is at 7 p.m. inside Nicholson Pavilion.