ELLENSBURG, Washington. – Central Washington men's basketball (9-13, 5-8 GNAC) returns home for a showdown with Northwest Nazarene (10-11, 7-6 GNAC) Saturday, February 11^th at 6:15 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion.

GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Feb. 11th
6:15 PM
vs. Northwest Nazarene
Nicholson Pavilion
Ellensburg, Wash.

QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"NNU is playing really well right now coming in on a three-game win streak. They are a very physical team that defends and rebounds at a high level."

LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats fought hard in Alaska but fell to Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage. Anchorage played a complete game and won 76-66.

The Seawolves' scored 13 points off 12 Wildcat turnovers in the first twenty minutes. This helped them go on a 17-5 run to close the half, capped off by a Bradley three making it 40-31. For the 'Cats, Matt Poquette scored 14 points in the first half on 5/8 from the floor and four made free throws.

Shooting played a large part in the Seawolves' success, In the second half, Alaska Anchorage shot 55.8% from the field to Central Washington's 38.1%.

WILDCAT STATS
Camron McNeil leads the 'Cats offensively averaging 13.9 ppg and is the best from beyond the arc hitting 42 so far this season. Matt Poquette and Samaad Hector lead the team on the boards hauling in 6.6 per contest. Brock Gilbert leads the GNAC in assists, dishing out 6.5 per game. Poquette leads the team at the free-throw line shooting 70.2%.

SCOUTING THE NIGHTHAWKS
Northwest Nazarene is 10-11 overall and 7-6 in GNAC play, the Nighthawks are currently ranked 4^th in the conference. Northwest Nazarene extended their winning streak to three last Saturday, taking down Alaska Fairbanks 69-54.

After being tied at 13 with 13:51 to play in the first half, the Nighthawks went on a 21-5 run over the next seven minutes. At the half, Northwest Nazarene led 39-28. NNU came out with the same intensity in the second half as Christian Rose hit a layup to give the Nighthawks a 50-28 advantage. From there, Northwest Nazarene coasted to the 69-54 victory.  

So far this season, Tru Allen and Gabriel Murphy lead the team in scoring, averaging 12.5 and 11.5 points per game respectively. On the glass, Murphy averages 8.9 rebounds per game. Ryzin Bergersen has the best free throw percentage, shooting 81.3%. He also has the most threes making 40 this season.

GNAC STANDING IMPLICATIONS
The Nighthawks are climbing the GNAC rankings, they are 4^th and are two games back of Seattle Pacific. The Wildcats fell to 7^th in the standings. The 'Cats are behind Western Washington but have the same conference record 5-8. A CWU victory and a Vikings loss would vault the 'Cats into solo sixth place. The top six teams in the GNAC earn a spot in the conference tournament.

UP NEXT
Central Washington stays home next week. The 'Cats host Simon Fraser Thursday, February 16^th at 7 p.m. and rivals Western Washington for Senior Night on Saturday, February 18^th at 6 p.m.