ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Central Washington fell 60-61 to Northwest Nazarene in a dramatic finish Saturday night.

QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"That was as tough an ending as it gets in the game of basketball. The guys did everything they needed to do to win the game until the last three minutes."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• NNU took the early 23-12 lead with 9:21 left in the first half. The 'Cats responded and used a 16-4 run to comeback.
• 'Cats used a 16-4 run to comeback capped off by a Samaad Hector Layup
• A nice extra pass from Noah Pepper found Samaad Hector who converted the layup giving the 'Cats their first lead, 28-26 with 3:07 remaining in the first half.
• In the first half, Central Washington out shot Northwest Nazarene from the floor, 46.4% to 32.1%.

• The Wildcats went on a 7-0 streak extending their lead to 12 with 10:29 left in the second half.
• A free throw by Tru Allen brought the deficit to 10, 47-57 with 3:44 remaining.
• Aaron Murphy's dunk brought the Nighthawks within six.
• Samaad Hector buried a clutch three from the top of the key to put the 'Cats up seven with 1:04 to go.
• Ryzin Bergersen put the team on his back and made back-to-back threes, one to cut it to four, then another twenty seconds later that made it 59-60.
• Allen drove up the right side and made a baseline floater with ten seconds left to give NNU the dramatic win.

NOTABLE STATS                                                                            

• Samaad Hector led the Wildcats offense scoring 18 points. Isaiah Banks, Camron McNeil, and Brock Gilbert all scored 11 points.
• Tru Allen led the Nighthawks scoring 19 points and Gabriel Murphy  seven chipped in seven and collected eight rebounds.

UP NEXT
Next week, Central Washington hosts Simon Fraser and rival Western Washington. The 'Cats take on Simon Fraser Thursday, February 16^th at 7:00 p.m. and then host Western Washington Saturday, February 18^th at 6:00 p.m.