MONMOUTH, Oregon. – Central Washington men's basketball wrapped up their regular season with fireworks. Camron McNeil scored 29 points and Samaad Hector nailed a three at the buzzer to give the Wildcats the 75-73 victory over Western Oregon.

QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"That was as dramatic as it gets on the road. We showed some serious toughness winning back-to-back road games at the buzzer. We did not play as well tonight, but Cam carried us and different guys came up with clutch plays down the stretch. Matt grabbed a huge offensive rebound and Brock did a great job of finding Samaad for the game winner. That was a clutch shot Samaad knocked down to give us the lead."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Western Oregon jumped out to an early 14-6 advantage. Camron McNeil and Coby Gennett hit back-to-back layups which brought the deficit to four with 9:04 remaining in the first half.
• The Wolves went on a 9-4 run late in the half that gave them a seven-point lead.
• Colby Gennett nailed a three and the 'Cats went into the locker room down 39-33. Camron McNeil carried Central Washington's offense in the half scoring 16 of CWU's 33 points.
• Early in the second half, Isaiah Banks hit a layup to give the 'Cats their first lead of the game, 42-41.
• Samaad Hector drained a three bringing the 'Cats within two and shifting the momentum, three plays later the Crimson and Black tied the game at 65.
•  McNeil nailed a three and on the 'Cats next possession spun in the lane and delivered a layup to give CWU the 72-71 lead with 33 seconds left.
• The Wolves responded, Cameron Benzel drove hard to the block and banked one home to put WOU ahead with 14 seconds to go.
• On the final play, Banks hit Gilbert with a pass, Gilbert drove left and kicked it out to Samaad Hector who buried the three to give the Wildcats their fourth win in a row!

NOTABLE STATS

• The Wildcats won the board battle 33-25 and had six more offensive rebounds than the Wolves.
• Central Washington dominated the painted area, scoring 44 points. The 'Cats also converted 11 fastbreak points.
• Camron McNeil backed up his great performance against Saint Martin's with a season-high 29 points including five threes in the win. Matt Poquette scored 13 points to go with nine rebounds. Samaad Hector put up 10 points and 6 boards. Brock Gilbert did what he always does, setting up the team for success dishing out 9 assists.
• Cameron Cranston led the Wolves' offense, scoring 14 points, Qiant Myers came off the bench putting up 11, and Cameron Benzel chipped in 9 points.

UP NEXT

• The 'Cats head into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament with a four-game win streak and tons of confidence. If Northwest Nazarene's loss to Saint Martin's, Central Washington is the four-seed in the GNAC tournament and will face Western Oregon in the first round on Thursday, March 2nd.