ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team heads on the road for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchups against Simon Fraser and Western Washington University.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Thursday, January 27
At Simon Fraser
7:00 PM
West Gym
Burnaby, B.C., CAN
LIVE STATS
WATCH
 
Saturday, January 29
At Western Washington
7:00 PM
Carver Gym
Bellingham, WA
LIVE STATS
WATCH
 
QUOTABLE
"This is going to be interesting," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said. "We are looking forward to playing some basketball and because of what has happened over the last three weeks, we are going to be stringing them together. We are going to try and find a rest in-between and I think it's going to be the teams that can continually find the effort night after night. There are going to be a lot of games played over the next few weeks. Hopefully, that's the goal. It's an interesting dynamic having to turn around and play at Simon Fraser. It's not going to be easy, they'll have a bad taste in their mouth and we will have to play better up there.
 
SCOUTING SIMON FRASER
After playing visitor in Ellensburg, Simon Fraser faces the Wildcats at home in West Gym where they are undefeated on the season. The Canadian squad is 5-0 in West Gym.
 
Tuesday's game with the Wildcats saw seven-footer Julian Roche tally just eight points and five rebounds, well short of his season average. He is averaging 15 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game. His rebounding average dropped by 0.3 after last night's game, while his points per game fell by 0.6. Prior to Tuesday, Roche had compiled a pair of consecutive double-doubles.
 
Simon Fraser was still without Jasdeep Singh, who has not played since December 4 against Western Washington. The 6-foot-8 forward has been a key cog for SFU, averaging 13.6 points per game.
 
Wilfired Balata appeared in his eighth game of the season against Central Washington. He recorded 13 points and nine rebounds. He is averaging 13.1 points per game and 6.8 boards.
 
The Burnaby-based squad is shooting 46.4 percent on the year after being held under 40-percent in Nicholson Pavilion. They average almost 76 points per game and allow 71.69.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN WASHINGTON
The Vikings (7-6, 3-1 GNAC) host three games in the next six days. They open the string of games against Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, before taking on CWU Saturday, and closing the stretch with Alaska Anchorage on Monday.
 
The Vikings have had a tough stretch of uncertainty to begin the new year with six postponements due to health and safety protocols. WWU has had to fight through a layoff playing only three games over the last 38 days. 
 
Junior guard Daniel Hornbuckle leads the Vikings averaging 14.6 points per game with junior guard/forward Jalen Green at 14.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest. Senior forward Luke Lovelady is leading the squad with 6.2 rebounds per game and sophomore guard D'Angelo Minnis averages 10.1 points and a team-best 4.7 assists per game.
 
Hornbuckle is shooting 47.5 percent from the floor and 47.3 percent from deep. He has also tallied 33 assists, 11 steals, and one block. Green is shooting 55.7 percent, while adding 20 assists, six steals, and a team-high 14 blocks.
 
The Vikings are averaging 81.5 points per game on a team shooting percentage of 50.6 to lead the GNAC. Western is allowing 71.43 points per game and out rebound opponents 38.4-31.4. They have a turnover margin of -29 (181-152) and a -10 margin in steals (89-79). In blocks, however, the Vikings margin is a +31 (65-34).
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats remained undefeated at home, moving to 5-0 in Nicholson Pavilion, with an 81-64 victory over Simon Fraser, who entered the week sitting atop the GNAC standings.
 
Central's victory kept their undefeated streak against Simon Fraser in Nicholson Pavilion alive, moving to 11-0 since SFU joined the GNAC in the 2010-2011 season.
 
Xavier Smith led the Wildcats' scoring efforts, tallying 20 points. Marqus Gilson (17), David Thompson (16), and Matt Poquette (10) all recorded double digit efforts as well. Smith finished 9-for-11 from the field and 2-for-4 from beyond the arc. He also notched a team-high three blocks. Thompson led the Wildcats with three steals and five assists, while Poquette recorded a team-high nine rebounds. Gilson held Roche to just eight points and five rebounds.
 
SIMON FRASER FAN & VACCINE VERIFICATION POLICY
By order of the Provincial Health Officer (PHO), proof of vaccination is required to access indoor sporting events. All individuals attending must be fully vaccinated. Masks are required for all individuals to wear indoors while on campus.  Masks must be worn by all spectators at all times in the West Gym. Participants, including players, coaches, support staff and media on the sidelines, must wear masks throughout the duration of all athletic events and during pregame and postgame activities.
 
All guests attending indoor events must show proof of vaccination, including international guests and individuals from outside British Columbia, who don't have B.C. ID are required to show proof of vaccination. Individuals from other Canadian provinces or territories must show: Provincially/territorially officially recognized vaccine record and valid government photo ID. International visitors must show: Proof of vaccination they used to enter Canada (like ArriveCAN) and their passport at the entrance to facilities. More information on Proof of Vaccination and the BC Vaccine Card is available here.
 
WESTERN WASHINGTON FAN & VACCINE VERIFICATION POLICY
All athletic-event spectators ages 5 and older are required to provide proof of vaccination, including a CDC-issued Vaccination Record Card (or photo of the card) to enter ticketed events.
 
Fans ages 5 and older who cannot provide proof of vaccination may present proof of negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours instead of proof of vaccination (for non-WWU students).
Test should be conducted by a healthcare provider, laboratory, pharmacy, or the like; home tests are not acceptable.
 
Fans over the age of 5, regardless of vaccination status, must wear face mask coverings over their nose and mouth while inside the venue.  Masks may be adjusted while actively eating or drinking. If a fan forgot their mask, there will be one available at the entrance of the venue.