BURNABY, British Columbia. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team (20-8, 14-4 GNAC) made the final game of the 2024-25 regular season one to remember Saturday night as the Wildcats mounted a comeback in the second half against Simon Fraser University (9-19, 5-13 GNAC), overtaking the Red Leafs in the final two minutes to win 73-70 and claim sole possession of the GNAC Regular Season Title and a first-round bye in next week's GNAC Tournament.
 
Quoting Head Coach Brandon Rinta
"That was the first time our offensive rebounding has won us a game all year. Championship teams can beat teams in multiple ways. This team did that all season. Tonight, it needed to be on the offensive glass. It was not our best performance, but the leadership we showed was impressive. Everyone stayed positive the whole time.

Very proud of what these guys just did over an 18-game conference schedule. Winning the regular season is one of the hardest things to do in sports. You need to be so tough and consistent to beat teams that know you inside and out, home and away. Time to regroup for the Conference Tournament."

Notable Stats

• Cavin Holden led the 'Cats in scoring with 21 total points.
• The Wildcats had four players who scored in double digits including Holden, Garrett Anderson (17), Maverick Sanders (11), and Bradley Swillie (10).
• CWU's rebounding was monumental as the team recorded 39 total rebounds, including 18 offensive boards. Anderson led the stat with nine rebounds.
• Jordan Clark and Holden each recorded three assists, leading the team.
• Clark also led in steals with four total takeaways.

First Half

• Simon Fraser shot out of the gate, going on a 21-5 run for the first 10 minutes of the game.
• Central began to find some rhythm, chipping away at the lead.
• The main story of the first half was SFU getting a big run in the first 10 minutes, while the Wildcats responded with a 20-13 run to get themselves back within nine points to go into halftime trailing 25-34.

Second Half

• The 'Cats carried their momentum into the second half, going on a 16-10 run to cut the lead down to three points with 14:29 remaining.
• The Red Leafs made a strong attempt to rebuild the lead, but the momentum continued to shift as CWU remained close behind.
• Then with 6:13 left in the game and the Wildcats trailing by one, Anderson hit a layup to take the lead for Central for the first time in the game at 59-58.
• SFU retook the lead with eight more points to make it a 61-66 lead.
• Then the Crimson and Black caught a stride and scored nine straight points to flip the script on the Red Leafs, with CWU now leading 70-66 with 26 seconds remaining.
• Simon Fraser answered with a layup to cut the lead to two, but had to foul and Holden would drop both of his free throws to make it a four-point game again.
• The Red Leafs hit another layup with 10 seconds left and quickly fouled Sanders with seven seconds remaining.
• Sanders hit the first of his free throws but missed the second as SFU scrambled to get up-court.
• With the 'Cats up three points, Luke Howard had a look and shot a three, but the shot was off as Swillie recovered the rebound as time expired with the Crimson and Black achieving the late comeback to win 73-70 and clinching the GNAC Regular Season title outright.

Up Next
It's tourney time as the Wildcats head to Lacey, Wash. for the GNAC Tournament. The 'Cats will receive a first-round bye and will face the winner of the Alaska Fairbanks-Seattle Pacific match on Friday, March 6. Tip-off from the Marcus Pavilion is scheduled for 2:15 p.m.