NAMPA, Idaho- Central Washington men's basketball (6-10, 2-5 GNAC) secured the 75-64 victory over Northwest Nazarene (6-9, 3-4 GNAC) Saturday night. The 'Cats utilized consistent shooting to down the Nighthawks.
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"This was a big road win for us against a really good NNU team. They are a physical really good defensive team and for us to be able to be as efficient as we were from the floor against their defense was good to see. We were able to put a couple of good offensive games together back-to-back is a good sign. Tonight, was pretty balanced Samaad, Matt, Cam, Colby, and Mitch all being able to score in double figures. It was a good team win tonight."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Four points from Samaad Hector and a three by Camron McNeil gave the 'Cats an early 14-9 advantage. Northwest Nazarene fought back, but a 7-0 run from CWU made it 21-14 with 12:25 left. Both teams traded baskets and NNU's free throw shooting (9-12) kept them in the game. Back-to-back slams from Gennett and McNeil gave the Wildcats momentum as they took a 39-31 advantage into the locker room. In the first half, the Wildcats shot 53.8% from the field compared to the Nighthawk's 37.5%.

CWU came out with the same efficient offense in the second half. The Nighthawk's shooting was ice cold as they missed four threes in a row allowing the 'Cats to build a 46-34 lead. Matt Poquette nailed a fadeaway to put CWU up 13 with 7:30 remaining. The Nighthawks responded by cutting it to 8, but a fancy floater from Brock Gilbert put the 'Cats up 10 again as they coasted to the 74-65 victory.

McNeil led CWU with 14 points going 6-10 from the field. On the glass, Poquette hauled in 7 rebounds to go with 11 points. Gennett finished with 13 points drilling two from beyond the arc. The Wildcats shot 56.3% from the field, made 7 threes, and went 13-19 from the charity stripe.

In the loss, Tru Allen scored 16, Timothy TenKley put up 13, and Yaru Harvey chipped in 10 points. The Nighthawks shot 40.8% from the floor, made 9 threes, and converted 16 from the free throw line.
 
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will harness this momentum as they travel to face rivals Western Washington (10-7, 3-4 GNAC) on January 19^th at 7:00 p.m. CWU then travels to Simon Fraser (6-10, 1-5 GNAC) on Saturday, January 21^st where tipoff will be 7:00 p.m.