LACEY, Wash. – Central Washington fell to Saint Martin's 68-59 on Saturday night. The Wildcat's cold shooting in the second half, paired with Saint Martin's execution in the final three minutes, led to the loss.

QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"This is the best shooting team I've ever been around. I would have never thought we were capable of missing that many wide-open threes. We have so much confidence in our shooters. We all felt like each one was going in. Hard to beat anyone going 7/37 from three, let alone the #6 team in the country on their home floor."

Rinta added, "Our guys came out with great fire in the first half, but SMU is a veteran team and came out in the second half and made more plays than us. We did a good job holding a potent offense to 40% shooting. We just needed to do a better job of limiting them to one shot."

NOTABLE STATS

• Samaad Hector led the 'Cats with a double-double. He scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Maverick Sanders put up 13 points and corralled eight boards.
• Camron McNeil added ten points and Mitch Brizee contributed eight.
• The Saints had four players score in double figures led by Kyle Greeley with 14 points.
• Central Washington shot 35% from the field while Saint Martin's shot 40%.

FIRST HALF

• Saint Martin's played physical early. The Saints got into the paint and converted, helping them take an early 7-3 lead. Central Washington responded by hitting a couple of threes to keep it close. Camron McNeil's layup tied the game at 13 with 14:18 left.
• Central Washington broke the deadlock and went on an 11-3 run. The 'Cats run was highlighted by Maverick Sander's monstrous baseline dunk. He followed that up with a fadeaway jumper on the next possession.
• Mitch Brizee came into the game and made an immediate impact. He received a nice pass from McNeil, controlled the ball down low, and made the layup through contact. Brizee sunk the free throw, completing the "And One."
• Saint Martin's closed out the final five minutes on an 11-4 run. Despite the run, CWU had the 33-28 halftime lead.

SECOND HALF

• The Saints opened the half on a 9-2 run. Jayshawn Moore made a layup to give SMU the 37-35 lead.
• Anjaylo Lloyd drove to the rim and banked in a layup. On the next possession, Brizee received the ball down low and made the basket. The 'Cats went cold from beyond the arc and Saint Martin's capitalized offensively to take a 50-41 lead with 8:30 remaining.
• Hector broke Central Washington's three-point cold streak by nailing a trey from the elbow. Samaad hit another one and followed that up with a hook shot in the paint. Jordan Clark kept the momentum rolling when he hit a deep three from the elbow to bring the 'Cats within two.
• It all came down to the final three minutes and Saint Martin's capitalized. It started with a turnaround jumper from Kyle Greeley and then Shakeem Alcindor secured a rebound and put it back up and in off the glass. The 'Cats missed an opportunity late that hurt their chances to make it a two-possession game.
• The Saints closed out the game with late free throws to secure the 68-59 victory.

UP NEXT

• Central Washington plays three home non-conference games to close out 2023.