ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University men's basketball enters the GNAC Championship as the No. 5 seed and opens play against No. 4 Montana State Billings University at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday (Mar. 3) in Lacey, Washigton.
 
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"Billings is a big team that has two dynamic scoring guards," CWU Head Coach Brandon Rinta said. "They are one of the best defensive and rebounding teams in the conference.  We are excited for the challenge of playing them in the opening round of the GNAC Tourney.  It should be a great environment at St Martins this weekend."
 
SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets finished 13-14 and 9-8 in GNAC play.
 
Montana State Billings notched a win over Central Washington before falling to NNU, 76-41, in their final game of the regular season.
 
The 'Jackets struggled from the field, managing just a 24.6 percent clip against the Nighthawks. Nicholas Sebastiao recorded a team-high 12 points in the loss. Carrington Wiggins was the only other Yellowjacket in double figures with 10 points.
 
Wiggins and Damen Thacker earned All-GNAC honors for the 'Jackets. Wiggins was named the Newcomer of the Year and earned First Team All-GNAC honors, while Thacker earned Honorable Mention honors.
 
Wiggins was a unanimous selection after leading MSUB with 17.5 points per game. He is the GNAC's sixth-leading scorer and ranks 14^th with a field goal percentage of 48.7. Wiggins dropped a collegiate-career-high 34 points against the Saints on 12-for-18 shooting in an 80-69 win. Then against Western Washington on Feb. 14, he made his first seven shots, finished 11-for-12 from the field and tallied 28 points. Defensively, Wiggins tied Thacker for the team-best at 1.3 steals per game – all while both being tasked with guarding opponents' best perimeter players. Their six-steals apiece against South Dakota Mines on Nov. 27 are tied for the 12^th most in a single game in MSUB history.
 
Thacker, meanwhile, rounded out MSUB's all-conference winners by earning honorable mention honors. The senior guard from the University of Idaho is the conference's ninth-leading scorer and assister, averaging 15.3 points and 3.4 assists per game, respectively. He is also the fourth-best free-throw shooter, making 92 of his 108 attempts (85.2%), which is the 10^th-most-accurate single-season mark in program history. Lately, he scored 30 points – seven of which came in overtime – at Western Oregon before pouring in 25 points on seven made threes at Alaska Anchorage several days later.
 
Montana State Billings averages 67 points per game, while allowing 66.6 – a drastic gap between Central Washington's GNAC-leading 83.4 points per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats finished the regular season with a 15-8 record, including a 9-7 mark in GNAC play. They split their final week of the season with a loss to Montana State Billings, before taking down Seattle Pacific.
 
Smith led the Wildcats in the 90-77 loss to Billings with 21 points. Matt Poquette added 17 points, five boards, three assists, and one block.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Against the Falcons, David Thompson led the way with 24 points, while Smith tallied. Both Marqus Gilson and Poquette finished with 15 points. Amari Stafford was the final double-digit scorer with 12 points.
 
The Falcons shot better than 50 percent from the field in the first half, but struggled from long range. They knocked down just three of their 10 attempts from behind the arc. Seattle Pacific also held an 18-14 edge in rebounding in the opening 20 minutes, including a 5-2 margin in offensive rebounds. Central converted a clip of 48.3 percent and knocked down six of their 10 attempts from deep.
 
The lead changed hands seven times in the first half. The Wildcats led for 17:26 and were leading up until a driving layup from Divant'e Moffitt put the Falcons ahead 36-35. Zack Paulsen added the final bucket, sending SPU into halftime with a 38-35 lead.
 
Eight and a half minutes into the second half, Central held a 60-54 advantage. A three-point play from Moffitt cut the 'Cats lead to three, 60-57. Baskets from Poquette and Stafford re-established a six-point advantage for CWU. The Wildcats reached their first double digit lead with a layup from Thompson with six minutes remaining, as they held on for a 91-75 victory.
 
GNAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Xavier Smith was named the GNAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year, the GNAC announced on Tuesday (Mar. 1).
 
Smith led the Wildcats and finished in second in the GNAC in scoring, averaging 19 points per game – pacing a GNAC-leading and 28^th in Division II CWU scoring offense. He shot 51.9 percent from the field, 40.2 percent from deep, and 86.9 percent from the free throw line. The Seattle native added 101 rebounds, 44 assists, 18 steals, and 12 blocks. Smith scored a career-high 32 points against Western Washington University on January 29. He scored 10 or more points in all but one games this season.
 
In GNAC play, Smith's numbers increased. He averaged 20.2 points per game against GNAC foes while shooting 52.8 percent. He knocked down 43.3 percent of his chances from deep and posted a free throw percentage of 94.1.
 
ALL-GNAC SELECTIONS
Alongside his Player of the Year selection, Smith earned First Team All-GNAC honors. Joining him in an All-GNAC selection is David Thompson, who was named an Honorable Mention selection.
 
Thompson averaged 15.2 points per game, while shooting 44.9 percent from the field. He hauled in 77 rebounds, a team-high 79 assists and 31 steals, and two blocks. He recorded a career-high 29 points against Alaska Fairbanks on January 15. Thompson scored 10 or more points in 18 games this season.
 
REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Wildcats were No. 6 in the last NCAA DII West Region Rankings before the DII Selection Show on Sunday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m. PT.