ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington men's basketball suffered its first home loss of the season, falling 74-59 to Montana State Billings on Thursday night.
Anjaylo Lloyd and
Samaad Hector each scored ten points in the loss.
QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"Shooting 1-24 from the three-point line is hard to overcome to get a win in this league. Especially against a very good Montana State Billings team. We did our best to get more possessions by grabbing 14 offensive rebounds and turning them over 18 times, but in the game of basketball you have to make shots."
NOTABLE STATS
- Hector and Lloyd each scored ten points, Jordan Clark scored nine points, and Camron McNeil added eight points for the Wildcats.
- Zharon Richmond led the Yellowjackets scoring 13 points, Daniel Moody and Emmanuel Ajanaku each put up 12, and Famous Lefthand added eight.
- MSUB went 5-14 from beyond the arc, while CWU struggled and went 1-24 from distance.
- The free throw line was a factor. The Yellowjackets converted 15 free throws to the Wildcats four.
FIRST HALF
- The first half was slow for both teams. Seth Dawson drove the lane and finished the layup to put the 'Cats up 10-5 going into the first media timeout.
- Steven Richardson converted a layup for the Yellowjackets to give them the 15-14 advantage with 8:16 left.
- Both sides struggled from the floor. Central Washington shot 37% while Montana State Billings went 39% from the field.
- The Wildcats missed all twelve of their threes. With 21 seconds left, Beni Fungula hit MSUB's second three. McNeil answered with a jumper to end the half. At the break, Montana State Billings led 29-28.
SECOND HALF
- Maverick Sanders made an acrobatic hook shot early in the half. Jordan Clark had a good second half scoring nine points and made the Wildcats only three of the game.
- Bradley Swillie made a jumper to bring the Wildcats within two with 11 minutes left. Then, Montana State Billings went on a six-point run to extend their lead back to eight.
- The Yellowjackets used a 15-6 run in the final seven minutes of the game to secure the 74-59 victory.
UP NEXT
- Central Washington returns to the hardwood Saturday to face Seattle Pacific at 6:15 p.m.