LACEY, Wash. — The Central Washington University men's basketball team completed a second half comeback to take down Saint Martin's University, 71-65.

The Wildcats (17-10, 10-9 GNAC) outscored the Saints (5-23, 3-16 GNAC) 45-31 en route to their win.  Jeryn Lucas scored 23 points, while Micah Pollard notched 16.

"Our whole team showed a lot of heart tonight," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said.  "Saint Martin's was playing well and we were struggling to rebound, but our guys kept fighting. We finally were able to string together some stops at the end and grab the lead for the first time with three minutes left."

Saint Martin's opened the first half on a 9-0 run, before Xavier Smith gave the Crimson and Black their first points with a layup.  After a relatively slow start, Central's offense clicked into gear midway through the first half.  Saint Martin's was able to slowly edge their lead to double digits, but the Wildcats made sure they hung around throughout the half.  A 13-4 stretch in favor of CWU brought the game within three halfway through the opening stanza, but a trey from SMU's Alex Clinton forced the Saint's lead back to six.

The Saints' lead hovered around double digits throughout the first half.  Each time, Central responded to force the advantage back down to a single digit, closing the half at 34-26 in favor of Saint Martin's.

Central opened the second half with the first six points, three via free throws and a trey from Micah Pollard, made it 34-31.  Back-to-back jumpers from SMU gave the Saints a six-point edge three and a half minutes into the second period.  

With 14:09 on the clock, a three from Alex Schumacher extended the Saints' lead to 11 at 45-34.  Matt Poquette found Pollard open for a three, but SMU responded with a trey of their own.  Undeterred, the Wildcats found Lucas for another chance from range and he did not miss.  Two possessions later, Lucas was at it again from beyond the arc.  He knocked down another trey, carving into the Saints' lead, and bringing the score to 49-45 with 9:28 to play.  

Pollard was next up for Central.  He drained a three of his own, on an assist from Smith, before a turnover from SMU led to a bucket from Marqus Gilson.  The Crimson and Black had cut the Saints' lead to 53-50 with 7:16 left in regulation.

The next basket for either side came a minute and a half later.  CJ Jennings doubled the lead for Saint Martin's, 56-50, at 6:49.  The next four minutes belonged solely to Central Washington.

A steal by Pollard started the run for the Wildcats.  He and Poquette used tic-tac passing on the break for a layup from Pollard, who was fouled on the way up.  Pollard then converted a free throw after being fouled by Schumacher on the next possession.  Saint Martin's briefly imposed on the Wildcats' momentum with a free throw from Marky Adams, but Lucas converted a trey to tie the game at 57-57.  A steal from Smith on the next possession for Saint Martin's gave way to another three from Lucas, this time giving CWU a 60-57 lead.

Pollard converted a pair of free throws at the charity stripe, pushing the Wildcats' advantage to 62-57.  A jumper from SMU's John Moore cut the lead back to three, but Gilson responded with a jumper of his own to reestablish the five-point edge.

Central outscored the Saints in the last minute of the game, 3-2, with a trio of shots at the free throw line.  

CWU scored 16 points off turnovers and allowed just four to the Saints.  The Crimson and Black's reserves scored 47 points.  CWU also scored 15 points in the paint and allowed seven.

The Wildcats are on the road for their final regular season game of the year.  They travel to Seattle Pacific for a 4:15 p.m. tip on Saturday (Feb. 29)