SEATTLE, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team (5-4) fell short of a comeback Saturday afternoon–dropping the contest 62-65 to Vanguard University (4-2) in the teams' final match of the SPU Thanksgiving Classic at the Royal Brougham Pavilion.
 
Quoting Head Coach Brandon Rinta
"That was a hard-fought game by both teams today. We kept adjusting to their pressure in different ways but couldn't get enough shots at the rim. Holding a team to 65 isn't bad but the percentage they shot was the issue. We have to continue to get better defensively."
 
Notable Stats

• Garrett Marrs had a strong game–leading the Wildcats, offensively, with 16 total points, while also logging five rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
• Eli Williams played well–scoring 14 points and recording three assists, three steals, and two rebounds, as well as go 4-6 from beyond the arc.
• Bradley Swillie scored well with 11 points, while recording four assists, two rebounds, one block, and one steal.
• Chae Haynes cleaned up everything around the rim–recording 12 rebounds, including three offensive boards. Calvin Sisk also played well under the offensive glass with three offensive rebounds of his own.

 
First Half

• Central found the first edge–getting out to a 6-2 lead in the first three-and-a-half minutes.
• Vanguard responded with six unanswered points to take an 8-6 lead.
• The Wildcats battled and hit a 10-4 run to retake the lead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half.
• The Lions fought and attempted to cut the lead down, but CWU found good opportunities and built its lead to 23-17 with 7:33 left.
• Vanguard began to find traction, though, and proceeded to go on a 12-5 run to take a 29-28 lead with 3:48 remaining.
• The teams finished off the half with two good scoring chances with Bryson Metz getting a three-pointer to give the Lions a two-point lead at 34-32 into halftime.

 
Second Half

• Marrs had a strong showing in the first three minutes of the half–scoring seven points to eventually tie the game at 39-39.
• Metz got a three-pointer to break the tie and give the Lions a 42-39 lead.
• After a free throw from Vanguard, CWU found some more offense–getting a three-pointer from Swillie, a pair of free throws from Childs, and then Marrs getting a layup, as the 'Cats scored seven straight points to take a 46-43 lead.
• The Lions answered and scored five quick points to retake a two-point lead.
• Eli Williams came right back and hit a three-pointer to make it a 49-48 lead for Central.
• Then, Vanguard found its offense–scoring eight unanswered points to take a 56-49 lead with 8:36 left in the game.
• Haynes got a free throw to break the run, but Sammy Howlin came right back with a layup to bring the lead to 58-50.
• Swillie got a layup and then Clark hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to four, but the Lions responded with a turn-around shot from Kailen Rains that falls to give Vanguard a 60-54 lead with 5:19 remaining.
• Both teams missed their next scoring chance, but Swillie found his chance after–hitting a jump shot to cut the Vanguard lead to 60-56.
• About a minute later, Haynes hit a layup to make it a two-point game. Then, on a quick fast break off a turnover, Williams lobbed a pass to Clark, who got the alley-oop layup to tie the game at 60-60.
• The Lions broke the tie after Aibigho Ujadughele hit a layup and drew a foul on the shot. Ujadughele missed the and-one.
• Haynes got a strong rebound off a miss and got fouled. Haynes would hit both free throws to tie it back up at 62-62 with 1:30 left.
• Rains hit a three-pointer with 19 seconds left to give Vanguard a 65-62 lead.
• Central got two chances beyond the arc from Swillie and Clark but neither could make the shot. However, the Wildcats got both offensive rebounds to force one last chance with 3.3 seconds left in the game.
• Clark got the last chance from the corner, but shot was off as Vanguard took the game 65-62

 
Up Next
The Wildcats kick off GNACtion next week–traveling up to Burnaby, B.C., to take on Simon Fraser on Thursday, Dec.4 at 7:00 p.m., and then to Bellingham, Wash., for a rivalry matchup against the Western Washington Vikings on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 5:00 p.m.