ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington men's basketball earned a big overtime win, 81-78 Sunday night against Cal State San Marcos. The Wildcats fought back late in the second half to tie the game and forced overtime. Central got big buckets from Jello Lloyd and Bradley Swillie in overtime, which helped them secure the victory.

QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"That was a hard-fought win for the team. San Marcos is a good team, and they played well tonight. Anjaylo carried us all night offensively. That was an impressive performance by him. He is a gifted scorer."

Rinta added, "Samaad, Maverick, and Bradley were big for us rebounding. Their 16 offensive rebounds helped us overcome our 21 turnovers. Brad came up with a huge defensive play to block Collin's shot to send it into overtime."

NOTABLE STATISTICS

• Anjaylo Lloyd had a star-studded night and scored a season-high 35 points.
• Bradley Swillie and Maverick Sanders each had 12 points and Samaad Hector logged another double-double. He put up 10 points and added 14 boards.
• Central Washington scored 17 second chance points and 13 fast break points.
• Charlie Henderson scored 24 points for Cal State San Marcos.

FIRST HALF

• Both teams were cold in the first two minutes. Central Washington missed its first six shots before Camron McNeil nailed an elbow three which put the Cats on the board.
• In the eleventh minute Anjaylo Lloyd caught fire. He made a jumper, and then sunk two threes. Jello's offense sparked a 10-2 run for the Wildcats, which gave them the 24-15 lead with 9:13 to go in the half.
• Cal State San Marcos scored the next six points and kept it close the throughout the final nine minutes.
• Lloyd ended the half with a bang. He took the ball to midcourt and made the half-court heave. Central Washington went into the locker room ahead 35-31.

SECOND HALF

• The Cougars went on an 11-5 run early to take the 49-47 lead.
• Seth Dawson's layup brought CWU within one with over eight minutes to go. Two minutes later, Cal State San Marcos scored on back-to-back trips which gave them a seven-point lead, 64-57 with 6:46 remaining.
• Samaad Hector found Lloyd, who buried the jumper that cut the deficit to three. Samaad Hector finished a hook shot to put the 'Cats ahead by one with 2:38 left in regulation.
• Edwyn Collin's layup gave the Cougars the 71-68 advantage with over a minute and a half remaining.
• Cavin Holden threaded a pass to Lloyd at the elbow. Lloyd elevated and knocked down the three to tie the game at 71.
• On the final possession Bradley Swillie blocked Edwyn Collin's shot to force overtime.

OVERTIME

• Cal State San Marcos turned it over on the first possession and Lloyd made the floater to put CWU in the lead.
• Central Washington came up with huge defensive rebounds throughout overtime.
• Bradley Swillie made a layup and put the 'Cats up by four.
• The Wildcats made four free throws down the stretch to secure the 81-78 victory.

UP NEXT

• Central Washington returns to Nicholson Arena on Tuesday for their final game of 2023 against Evergreen State at 2 p.m.