SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The sixth-seeded Central Washington University men's basketball team (22-9) defended a comeback attempt by third-seeded Chico State (24-7), winning the Battle of the Wildcats 82-79 in overtime Friday afternoon on the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University to move on to the second round of the NCAA Playoffs.
 
Quoting Head Coach Brandon Rinta
"Our ball movement was fun to watch today. Any time we can have 18 assists, 7 TO's, and limit the other team to 3 offensive rebounds we are giving ourselves a great chance. Chico is a very good team, and we knew they weren't going to go down without a fight. Proud of how everyone responded in overtime."
 
Notable Stats

• Cavin Holden led the Wildcats in scoring with 22 points.
• Central had four players record double-digits in scoring, including Holden, Garrett Anderson (18), Bradley Swillie (16), and Maverick Sanders (10).
• Holden, Anderson, and Mitch Brizee led the team in assists with four each.
• Brizee led in rebounds with 11 total boards.
• Anderson recorded his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

First Half

• Chico State opened the game with a seven-point run to take the early lead.
• Central answered with seven unanswered points to tie it back up.
• The teams began battling for the lead over the next few minutes.
• CWU started to get an edge in the final nine minutes of the half, building on its lead through good defense and steady scoring.
• Chico State fought back to cut the lead to five points with 1:13 left in the half, but the Crimson and Black went on a 5-2 run to close the first half with a 38-30 lead.

Second Half

• Both teams shared momentum for the first few minutes of the second half as CWU held a steady lead.
• Then with 16:32 left, Anderson hit a three-pointer to start a momentum shift that the Crimson and Black began to build its lead on.
• Central spent the next five minutes steadily building its lead up, getting the score up to 61-41 with 11:51 remaining.
• The next nine minutes wrote a different story as the Chico State Wildcats began to find their rhythm, chipping away at CWU's lead and eventually tying the game up at 66-66 with 2:55 left.
• The final minutes of the game involved two scoring moments for each team; four free throws for Central and two tying layups for Chico State to close out regulation with the score tied at 70-70 to force overtime.

Overtime

• The slow-moving offense for both teams continued for overtime as each team got a bucket each to keep the score close.
• CWU was able to keep a slight edge, always getting the lead following a Chico State tying play.
• Then with the game tied at 77-77 with :54 left, Swillie hit a layup to make it a two-point lead.
• Chico State missed their next chance and Swillie was fouled, he hit both free throws to make it 81-77 with :20 remaining.
• Jojo Murphy got a layup for Chico to make it 81-79 with :12 left. Murphy would then foul Jordan Clark.
• Clark missed his first free throw but sank the second to make it a three-point game.
• Murphy got two chances to hit a game-tying three-pointer but both times, he couldn't connect as the time expired with the Crimson and Black surviving the comeback attempt, winning 82-79 and moving onto the second round of West Regional.

 
Up Next
The Wildcats take on second-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills tomorrow, March 15 in the second round. Tip-off from Golden Gymnasium is set for 5:00 p.m.