SEATTLE, Washington. – Central Washington men's basketball (4-9, 0-4) fell 84-93 to Seattle Pacific (8-5, 3-1) Saturday night. The Falcons made 17 threes propelling them to victory.
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"It was good to see us score the basketball and make shots tonight. Colby and Noah did a good job knocking down some threes. Brock did a good job of finding guys off of ball screens and Matt had a big double-double for us." Rinta added, "Unfortunately SPU had the greatest shooting display I have ever seen. We needed to do a better job of guarding the three-point line, but for them to shoot 17/29 from three is hard to overcome."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams started out fast, with Seattle Pacific grabbing the early 10-4 lead. Three 3 pointers in a row from Camron McNeil, Colby Gennett, and Noah Pepper tied the game at 13 with 13:51 remaining in the half. Matt Poquette converted a layup which was answered by Shaw Anderson who tied it at 34 a piece with two minutes left in the half. The Falcons ended the half on an 11-2 run.

At the break the Wildcats trailed 36-45. The Falcons shot 55.6% from the field and made 9 threes. The 'Cats shot 45.2% from the floor making 5 from beyond the arc.

Isaiah Banks hit a tough floater to start the second half and Samaad Hector followed that up with an and one cutting the deficit to four with over 18 minutes remaining. Banks added a step back continuing the momentum for CWU. Back-to-back SPU three pointers moved the deficit to 12 with 15:42 left in the game. Maui Sze nailed a deep triple capping off the Falcons 12-0 run, giving them a 63-45 lead.

The Crimson and Black kept fighting. A tough layup from Matt Poquette sparked the momentum. With three minutes left CWU trapped SPU leading to a turnover and a quick layup. Noah Pepper's layup cut it to 77-87 with 2:09 to go. Free throws down the stretch for the Falcons secured their 93-84 victory.

In the loss, Matt Poquette led the way with a double-double, scoring 18 points and securing 11 rebounds. Noah Pepper scored 14 points and sank three from beyond the arc. Camron McNeil and Samaad Hector each had 12 points. The 'Cats shot 50% from the field, made 8 threes, and went 12-17 from the charity stripe. Rebounding was great for the Wildcats as they hauled in 14 offensive and 17 defensive boards.

The Falcons 17 three pointers tied for third most made threes in a GNAC game. Shaw Anderson scored 22 points going 9-12 from the floor. Maui Sze put up 20 points with six threes. SPU's Zack Paulsen recorded 17 points and Syon Blackmon added 10. On the night the Falcons shot 58.2% from the field and went 12-13 from the free throw line.
 
UP NEXT
The Wildcat's will look to start 2023 off with two conference wins. Central takes on Alaska Anchorage Thursday January 5^th and Fairbanks Saturday January 7^th at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake Washington.