ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University men's basketball closed out the home portion of its 2019-20 schedule Saturday night with a tight 69-66 win against Concordia University (Ore.).
 
The Wildcats honored three seniors prior to tip-off. The three seniors that were honored were Jeryn Lucas, Gamaun Boykin, and Davon Bolton.
 
"I'm glad we got to send them out they way we did today with their last home game and our last home game as a team [this season]," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said on the 2019-2020 seniors. "Jeryn and Gamaun coming in last year and what we battled through to get to this point; I'm so proud of them. It's not just with who they are as basketball players but who they are as people too. I enjoy being around them and they're great teammates and to add Davon into the mix, he was an important piece for us this year."
 
The Crimson and Black (16-10, 9-9 GNAC) shot 41.9% from the game, while Concordia (3-23, 2-15 GNAC) was just ahead of them at 42.4%. Helping the Wildcats secure the win in the home finale was the second half surge of Lucas and Matt Poquette.
 
Lucas led the way with 22 points as a starter. He shot 8-15 overall and was 4-9 from three-point range. Poquette added 17 points on 70% shooting (7-10). The duo's scoring came mostly in the second half help Central maintain its lead.
 
"It wasn't pretty [winning this game]. They knocked down some shots and we could've done a better job of guarding the three-point line," Coach Rinta said. "But I thought our guys did a great job of staying together, figuring out what was working, how to be successful, getting the ball inside and being disciplined down the stretch offensively."
 
Early makes in the first four minutes paved the way for a 14-8 lead for the Crimson and Black. The Wildcats wasted little time putting up shots nailing four triples in that span. Kevin Baker had the hot hand early scoring eight points and a perfect 3-3 shooting and 2-2 from beyond the arc.
 
The Cavaliers shook off their slow start to cut the Wildcats lead to four, 21-17, with 11:04 to play in the half. Helping CU get within two possession was a 7-0 run. Despite the surge, CWU maintained its lead the whole way.
 
The Wildcats adjusted from the Cavaliers run to push their lead back to nine, 33-24, with just over 6:30 to play. Baker was the only double figure scorer for the Wildcats with 11 but six other players had scored to help maintain balance on offense.
 
CU once again fought its way back into the game in the final minutes of the first half. They got within one possession, 33-30 to make things interesting yet again. The Wildcats responded and managed to take a 37-33 lead into halftime.
 
Lucas chipped in seven first half points to help Baker who sat at 11 at the break. Poquette added six, while Davon Bolton had five. The Wildcats short 40.5% in the first half and were 31.3% from three-point range.
 
Coming out of the break, Lucas scored 10 points early in the second half to reach 17 and help CWU stay in front by a score of 48-42. The Cavaliers continued to keep things close and interesting, but never managed to get in front.
 
The Cavaliers managed to cut Central's lead to just one, 55-54, with 8:35 left on the clock but the Wildcats once again had an answer. The answer this time around was Poquette who scored seven of the team's next 10 points. A 10-3 run by CWU pushed their lead to 65-59 with just over four minutes to play in the game.
 
Poquette had just six first half points, but like Lucas, surged in the second half to reach 17 with 4:09 left in the game. His 17 points, along with the 20 from Lucas, kept the Wildcats in the driver seat in waning minutes of regulation.
 
Once again, the visitors came storming back into the game and the late surge made for hectic final minute of play. The Cavaliers strung together a 7-3 run and cut the CWU lead to 67-66 with two seconds left in the game.
 
Lucas was fouled and nailed a pair of free throws immediately afterward to push the lead back to three, 69-66. The Cavaliers put up a half court shot as the clock expired and just nearly missed a chance to the send the game to overtime. The Wildcats breathed a sigh of relief to secure the Senior Night win.
 
Joining Lucas and Poquette as double figure scorers was Baker who finished with his 11. Marqus Gilson led the way in rebounds with eight. Bolton had four assists to lead the 'Cats and chipped in seven points, as did Boykin.
 
"Davon came up big in the assist department today. Jeryn came up with some big shots and Matt I thought did a good job of getting position down inside and our guys did a good job of getting him the basketball," Coach Rinta added.
 
The Wildcats will hit the road for their final two games of the season. They get the road trip started at Saint Martin's University on Thursday, Feb. 27.