ELLENSBURG, WASH. - Central Washington Men's Basketball fell in a heartbreaker to Western Oregon University 67-69 Thursday Night.

QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"We had some good stretches tonight. We had some guys step up with other guys out injured and sick. WOU is a good team and they hit some big shots down the stretch. We need to be able to execute better down the stretch."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Western Oregon came out of the gates strong with a 9-2 run to open the game. Mitch Brizee ended the run with an easy putback. With 13:46 left the Wolves led 11-6. Next, the 'Cats drained back-to-back threes from Quincy Taylor and Noah Pepper. With 9:05 left Central led 18-16. The Wildcats weren't done, going on a 10-3 run which included a Jalai O'Keith layup and Camron McNeil converting the reverse layup plus the free throw. The 'Cats took a 37-30 lead into the locker room. The 'Cats shot 46.7% from the field and went 5-9 from beyond the arc. The Wolves shot 40% from the field and 20% from three.

Cameron Cranston scored for WOU to start the second half. A block from Matt Poquette led to a layup from Brizee. Both teams traded baskets and with 15:42 left CWU led 43-39. The Wildcats committed several turnovers in a row, allowing WOU to get back in it. Yosani Clay converted a layup to tie the game at 45 with 12:42 remaining. Both teams went back and forth, Cranston hitting a three for the Wolves and Brock Gilbert burying one for the 'Cats. Gilbert's three tied it at 52 with 9:36 left. Matt Poquette gave the momentum back to the Crimson and Black driving and slamming it home. 3:50 remained and Central had a 61-56 lead.

WOU scored a layup off a turnover, but Camron McNeil answered with a three. Qiant Myers hit a tough layup to tie it at 64 with 1:21 remaining. Cranston gave the Wolves a 66-64 lead by hitting a fadeaway baseline jumper with 42 seconds remaining. McNeil missed a floater and Qiant corralled the defensive rebound. The 'Cats, forced to foul, sent Cranston to the line he converted a free throw making it 67-64 with 18 seconds remaining. McNeil hit a massive three to tie the game with 8 seconds left. On the final possession, Qiant took it coast to coast banking in a tough layup, then blocking Isaiah Bank's full-court attempt to secure the victory for Western Oregon.

The Wolves had four scorers in double digits led by Myers with 16. In the loss, McNeil put up 20 points and Poquette scored 15.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will return to Ellensburg High School on Saturday to take on Saint Martin's University. Tip-off is at 7:30 P.M.