ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team fell to Montana State Billings, 90-77.
Xavier Smith led the Wildcats (14-8, 8-7 GNAC) with 21 points, while
Matt Poquette recorded 17. Poquette added five rebounds, three assists, and one block to his night as well.
After a scoreless first minute of play, the 'Jackets (13-13, 9-7 GNAC) opened an 8-2 run and never looked back.
The 'Jackets shot better than 50 percent in the opening 20 minutes, knocking down nine shots from deep, to claim a 47-35 lead at halftime. The nine threes outpaced Central's three-point shooting with the 'Cats making five shots from deep. The Wildcats struggled in the rebounding department; the 'Jackets nearly doubling the Wildcats' rebounds, 21-11. Six of MSUB's rebounds came off the offensive glass.
"Basketball can be dictated by the three-point line, especially in games like this," CWU Head Coach
Brandon Rinta said. "For them to go 9-for-15 from the three-point line in the first half, kinda knocked us back a bit. It was tough to recover from that."
A tightly contested second half followed. The Wildcats and 'Jackets were separated by just one point in the backend, 43-42, in favor of Montana State Billings. Central took a slight edge in baskets made, 16-15, while both teams knocked down a trio of threes. Billings finished 10-for-11 at the charity stripe in the second stanza. The Wildcats rebounding efforts resulted in a 19-18 margin in favor of CWU, including a 5-4 edge in offensive rebounds.
"It was a little more even in the second half," Rinta added. "We were able to defend the three-point line a bit better, but they came out on fire and got their confidence going, it was tough for us to recover from that."
Montana State Billings extended their lead to as many as 18 with just 5:10 left in regulation, 79-61. The Wildcats responded with a 6-0 run over the next 95 seconds with four points coming from Smith and two from
David Thompson.
After a three from Billings' Damon Thacker, Smith drained a three of his own to make it 82-70 with 1:33 left. The final 93 seconds saw the 'Jackets go 8-for-8 at the free throw line, while Central picked up four points from
Colby Gennett and a three from Smith.
The Crimson and Black are back in action on Saturday, February 26, as they host Seattle Pacific. Tip-off will be 30 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game. Prior to tip, Central will honor six seniors playing in their final game at Nicholson Pavilion.
