LACEY, Wash. – Four Central Washington University men's basketball players finished in double digits as they held on for a 65-64 win over No. 9 Western Oregon University in the GNAC Championship Semifinal.
"We did a great job of defending the three-point line tonight," CWU Head Coach
Brandon Rinta said. "The ending got tight but that's the way the whole conference season has gone. You knew it was going to come down to the wire."
Matt Poquette led the Wildcats (17-8, 9-7 GNAC) with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Xavier Smith finished with 13, while
David Thompson and
Colby Gennett both recorded 12. Gennett also tied the team-high with seven rebounds.
Tyreek Price led the Wolves (9-18, 6-10 GNAC) with 19 points. Cameron Cranston (17), Daisone Hughes (11), and John Morrill-Keeler (10) rounded out the double-digit scorers for Western Oregon.
A dominant first-half performance led the Wildcats to their victory. The Crimson and Black knocked down 15 shots and went a perfect 6-for-6 at the charity stripe to take a 37-27 lead into the locker room at half time.
Central opened the contest with a 7-2 run in the first 150 seconds, before extending the gap to eight with 15:35 on the clock. After a three from Price cut the score to 12-9, back-to-back buckets from Gilson and Poquette gave the 'Cats a seven-point lead.
Every time the Wolves appeared to make headway cutting into the Wildcats' lead in the first half, the Crimson and Black responded to keep Western Oregon at arm's length. A six-point lead with 4:30 remaining in the opening stanza expanded to a 10-point lead on a Gilson dunk with 1:13 before the halftime break. The Wolves and Wildcats traded buckets to end the half, sending the 'Cats into the locker room ahead 37-27.
The Wolves cut their deficit to seven early in the second, but the Wildcats extended it to double digits once more with a three from Gennett with 14:27 left.
Leading 63-50 with under five minutes to play, Central seemed to have the game under control but Western Oregon had other plans.
A 9-0 run sliced into the 'Cats lead, cutting it to just four with 97 seconds to play. Two free throws from Thompson pushed Central's edge to 65-59 but a three from Cranston, and a dunk from Yomani Clay, made it a one-point contest with just 21 seconds left in regulation.
Western Oregon had the final possession after a missed free throw from the Wildcats. The Wolves gave the ball to Cranston, who was smothered by Wildcat defenders, in hopes of repeating their buzzer-beating antics from last night. His shot missed, sealing the Wildcats 65-64 victory.
The Wildcats advance to the championship for the first time since 2011, when they won the GNAC Championship as the one-seed over No. 2 Alaska Anchorage, 83-71.
Central takes on No. 10 Alaska tomorrow (March 5) at 7:30 pm in Lacey, Washington for the GNAC Championship.
