MONMOUTH, Ore. – Central Washington fell to Cal State Monterey Bay 77-57 in the opening game of the GNAC/CCAA Challenge on Friday.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"It's hard to win basketball games when you go 1-20 from the three-point line. The team kept fighting and cut it to six twice in the second half to grab some momentum. We need to be able to make shots and take better care of the basketball moving forward."
HOW IT HAPPENED
After giving up an opening three, the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run including a dunk from
Matt Poquette. Both teams went cold after the initial flurry of offense. In the half, CWU shot 27.8% from the field and 0-11 from downtown. CSUMB rallied, shooting 43.3% from the field, and went 3-7 from three. The Sea Otters went on a 14-4 run to close out the half. At the break, Central Washington trailed 33-23.
Cal State Monterey Bay came out firing in the second half and made seven threes. The Wildcats continued to fight,
Colby Gennett drove hard into the paint drawing contact, got the floater to go, but did not convert the free throw. Then, Poquette put back the missed free throw to cut the lead to six with 18 minutes remaining in the half.
The Sea Otter's consistent offense, coupled with the three ball, and the Wildcat's 18 turnovers led to the victory for Cal State Monterey Bay. Joe Wall led the Sea Otters offense, scoring 27 points. Three other CSUMB players hit double digits: Jailen Nelson (12), Jordan Archie (11), and Levi Frankland (10). In the loss, Poquette scored 12 points and
Samaad Hector tallied nine. The Wildcats shot 32% from the floor and went 1-20 from beyond the arc. The Sea Otters shot 47% from the floor and went 10-18 from distance.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats take on 9
th ranked Cal State San Bernardino tomorrow at 5 P.M.
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