FAIRBANKS, Alaska. – Central Washington men's basketball made 12 threes on their way to a 69-65 victory over Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday night. The 'Cats got out to an early lead and survived the Nanook's late push. Anjaylo "Jello" Lloyd led the crimson and black, scoring 29 points. He went 10-16 from the floor and made seven threes.
QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"If you have never been to Alaska, it is hard to explain just how difficult it is to come up here and win games. Tonight took everything this team had. I am really proud of their effort."
Rinta added, "Lloyd had another incredible shooting night. He carried us offensively a lot tonight.
Seth Dawson came up with some big plays and had six assists and zero turnovers. Besides that, Cam had a huge corner three to give us some space late and Holden stepped in and knocked down the game sealing free throws."
NOTABLE STATS
- Jello scored 29 points, Hector put up 10, and McNeil added seven.
- Seth Dawson scored 10 points and had six assists.
- Central Washington shot 46% from the floor compared to Alaska Fairbanks' 40%.
- The Wildcats made 12 from beyond the arc.
- Abdullahi Mohamed led the Nanooks, scoring 20 points.
FIRST HALF
- Maverick Sanders and Samaad Hector hit back-to-back threes to put the 'Cats up 8-4. Anjaylo Lloyd spearheaded a 10-2 run for Central Washington. He started it by hitting two from beyond the arc and capped the run off with a nice floater in the paint to put CWU up 20-7 at the halfway mark.
- The Nanooks responded with an 8-4 run that brought them within nine. With under eight minutes remaining in the half, Jaycson Bereal Jr. drove the lane and dunked it. His dunk brought the crowd to their feet and gave UAF the momentum.
- Jello buried another trey to put the Cats up by eight. Alaska Fairbanks ended the half on a 7-0 run which cut the deficit to four. At the break, the Wildcats led 35-31.
- In the first twenty minutes, Central Washington shot 51% from the field and made six threes.
SECOND HALF
- The First ten minutes of the half was back and forth. The Nanooks found a rhythm on offense and Tyriq Luke nailed a three that tied the game at 46.
- Hector made one from beyond the arc and on the next possession, Jello hit one from deep. Central Washington led 57-52 with 8:09 remaining.
- Samaad received the ball at the baseline and threaded a nice pass to Mitch Brizee, who converted the easy layup down low.
- Strong defense and key rebounds helped the Cats late. Alaska Fairbanks wouldn't go away, down by four in the final two minutes. McNeil nailed a baseline three which seemed like the dagger, but on the other end Tyriq Luke answered with a three from the top of the key.
- Two turnovers from Central Washington led to a jumper from Paul Johnson that got the Nanooks within two points. Cavin Holden got fouled and went to the line with eight seconds left. He calmly knocked down both free throws, which put the Wildcats up four and secured the victory.
UP NEXT
- Central Washington (10-5, 3-3 GNAC) returns home for their one game next week against Northwest Nazarene (8-5, 4-1 GNAC) on Saturday at 6:15 p.m.
