BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Central Washington men's basketball suffered an 87-76 defeat to Western Washington in part two of the rivalry on Saturday night.
Mitch Brizee captured a new career high scoring 19 points in the loss. Kai Johnson scored 25 points and led the Vikings to victory.
QUOTING HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"We were able to overcome turnovers in the first half to maintain a lead, but we had too many defensive breakdowns in the second half. They are too good of an offensive team to not be dialed in on every possession."
Rinta added, "Mitch had a great game tonight. He was a bright spot for us."
NOTABLE STATS
- Mitch Brizee was effective in the paint all night and scored a career-high 19 points. He was 8-13 from the floor and corralled eight rebounds.
- Bradley Swillie and Jello Lloyd both put up 13 points and Jordan Clark added 10.
- Kai Johnson led the Vikings, scoring 25 points on 9-16 from the field, 6-8 from the charity stripe, and one made three. Johnson also had six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks.
- Western Washington had four other players grab double digits. Wilson Will (13), Nic Welp (13), Jonathan Ned (12), and Tijan Saine (10).
- The Vikings scored 20 points off 17 Wildcat turnovers. Western Washington also made 18 free throws compared to Central Washington's nine.
FIRST HALF
- After Maverick Sanders' opening layup for the 'Cats, the Vikings went on a 9-0 run to take the early seven-point lead. Central Washington responded and Mitch Brizee's put back at the 12:23 mark gave CWU the 15-13 advantage.
- Jonathan Ned scored seven points in the span of two minutes for Western Washington. Ned hit a jumper, a three, and slammed home a dunk.
- The 'Cats answered, going on a 7-0 run. Brizee scored five of the seven points and Central Washington took the 34-28 lead. Jordan Clark and Colby Gennett made a pair of layups to close out the opening 20 minutes and give the Wildcats the 38-32 advantage going into halftime.
- Central Washington shot 51.5% from the floor and out rebounded Western Washington 24-12.
SECOND HALF
- The story of the half was Western Washington would not go away when the Wildcats built up several five-to-six-point leads. Case in point, Swillie's dunk put the 'Cats up by six points. Three possessions later, the Vikings cut the deficit to two.
- Tijan Saine made a three that tied the game at 57 just under the ten-minute mark. Two possessions later, Louis Grante-Halliday made a layup to give Western Washington the 61-60 lead.
- Isaac Morrow's layup sparked a heavy momentum shift that led to an 11-3 Vikings run. A deep ball from Will Wilson put Western Washington up 72-65 and capped off the run.
- Mitch Brizee had a great game for the 'Cats. Late in the game, Brizee positioned himself low in the paint, drew a foul, and converted the tough layup. Mitch made his free throw for his 19th point of the night and a new career high.
- Kai Johnson swished home the dagger three from the elbow with 2:24 left. Western Washington converted their free throws down the stretch to claim the rivalry victory.
UP NEXT
- The Wildcats return to Nicholson Pavilion next week for their final two games at home against #17 Saint Martin's and Western Oregon.
