ELLENSBURG, Wash. — The Central Washington University men's basketball team hosts Concordia University (Ore.) in their final home game of the season. 

GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, February 22
7:15 p.m.
V Concordia (Ore.)
Nicholson Pavilion
Ellensburg, WA

QUOTABLE 
"Concordia played Northwest Nazarene extremely tough on Thursday losing a one-point game," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said. "We need to bounce back and send our three seniors out on a positive note in their last home game."

SCOUTING CONCORDIA
The Cavaliers lost a tight battle with Northwest Nazarene University, 77-76, in their last outing. Concordia is 3-22 overall and just 2-15 in GNAC play.

The Nighthawks survived a second half in which they were out-scored 54-39, to improve to 14-8 overall and stay in second place in the GNAC standings at 11-6 in conference play. Adalberto Diaz led all players with 27 points on 10-for-15 shooting, while Alley contributed 14 and Jayden Bezzant also reached double figures with 10 points.

The Cavaliers overcame an ice cold start to the game making just one of their first 16 shots and scoring only 10 points over the first 15 minutes of the game. After that, the team shot 46.3 percent the rest of the night (25-for-54) in its pursuit of a 25-minute comeback effort.

The Cavs' are averaging only 69 points per game and allowing 82.9. They are shooting 41.3 percent from the floor, 30.8 percent from the floor, and 69.9 percent from the charity stripe.

Hunter Sweet and Dakota Ayala lead the Cavs' offense at 12.9 and 12 points per game, respectively. They are the only two Concordia players averaging double-digit scoring efforts.  The pair also lead the Cavs' roster in rebounding, hauling inn 5.5 and 5.3 rebounds per game respectively.  Within GNAC play, Ayala leads Concordia's scoring. He is averaging 12.8 points per game, while Sweet is averaging just 11.6 points per night against GNAC opponents.

LAST TIME OUT
Central Washington fell to Western Oregon, 71-61. 

Like they have done for much of the second half of conference play, the Wildcats offense got out to quick start. The Wolves kept pace though, setting up what was a fast-paced game all night. The Wolves managed to lead 11-8 in the first four minutes of play.

Despite trailing early, CWU responded after the first media timeout scoring 14 unanswered and holding the Wolves to six. The 22-17 with 11:53 to play in the half lead helped piece together a strong final 11 minutes of play as the Wildcats held the lead into halftime.

Davon Bolton was the force early on for the Wildcats scoring eight points in the first eight minutes. He reached 12 by the 7:55 mark of the first half and helped the Wildcats hold a 30-22 lead at the point.

Both teams continued to trade shots as the first stanza carried on. The Wildcats maintained composure and led 38-29 with 2:20 to play in the half. The Wolves kept the Crimson and Black within striking distance but never managed to retake lead in the final 12 minutes of the half.

The Wildcats eventually took a 40-31 lead into the break. Both teams shot over 40% for the half but CWU had the edge overall and from deep. WOU went 13-30 for 43.3% overall but was just 2-10 (20%) from deep. CWU was 15-32 overall for 46.9% and was a scorching 7-16 from deep for 43.8%.

The first four minutes of the second half completely belonged to WOU who pieced together a 12-4 run and cut the Wildcats lead to just one, 44-43. The Wolves shot 5-6 to start the frame, while CWU was just 2-5.

Despite the early surge from the Wolves, they never managed to grab the lead. The Wildcats pushed their lead back to five, 50-45, with 11:17 to play in regulation. WOU then went on a 7-0 run to grab their first lead since early in the first half, 52-50.

Bolton tied the game at 52-all with just under eight minutes to play in the game, but the offense for the Wildcats went cold the rest of the game scoring just nine points the rest of the way. The Wolves however, used the tempo and pace to their advantage and scored 19 in that span.

The Wolves closed out the final 4:04 of play on a 10-3 run to secure the win in Nicholson Pavilion. The Wildcats final three points came on a Bolton three ball but WOU walked away with the win and snapped CWU's four-game home win streak.

Bolton finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-17 shooting overall and 4-10 from three-point range. Smith was the only other double figure scorer with 11 points. Marqus Gilson led the way in rebounding with 10 boards and chipped in four points.