LACEY, Wash. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team (21-8) found difficulty getting shots to fall, as well as contain the high-flying offense that Seattle Pacific University (17-15) discovered for the GNAC Tournament, as the Wildcats fall to the Falcons in Saturday's conference championship game by a score 61-72.
 
Quoting Head Coach Brandon Rinta
"Credit to SPU and how they played tonight. This is a tough game to walk away from. We did not play our best tonight and when you get to this stage, you have to be your best."

Notable Stats

• Bradley Swillie led the Wildcats in scoring with 17 total points.
• Cavin Holden also scored double digits with 14 points.
• The 'Cats had a strong showing in the rebound category with 27 boards led by Eli Williams, who had seven.
• Holden also led in assists with five total.

First Half

• Seattle Pacific started the game with all the momentum, going on a 14-4 run for the first 10 minutes of the half.
• Central fought back and attempted to keep the game within single digits.
• SPU found a way to build on its lead and kept a 13-point lead going into halftime.
• The first half was a low-scoring affair, with the Falcons scoring 33, while the Wildcats scored 20. CWU went 8-27 in the first half as the shots wouldn't fall, shooting 29.6%.

Second Half

• The scoring continued to come slowly but the 'Cats found the edge, cutting the lead down to eight points, as they trailed 26-34 with 14:42 remaining.
• Both teams came out of a timeout scoring strong as SPU kept a steady lead, getting the score to 43-31 with 10:46 left in the game.
• Seattle Pacific then built on the lead with four more points to make it 47-31.
• CWU got a few free throws, but time continued to shorten for the Wildcats.
• Central began to find the basket and attempted to cut into the lead, but the Falcons also kept their scoring momentum up and held the double-digit lead.
• Then with 2:30 left, Jamari Harris hit a three-pointer to make it a 10-point lead and the 'Cats appeared to be back in the game.
• However, Central's offense began to falter, missing several chances to cut deeper into the Falcon lead.
• SPU, on the other hand, found scoring chances in free throws as CWU saw foul trouble.
• Trailing 52-71 in the final minute, the Crimson and Black went on an all-out offense, picking up offensive rebounds and pushing for three-pointers to cut down the lead.
• The 'Cats got five chances from beyond the arc and sunk three of them to make it a 61-72 game, but time was not on CWU's side as Seattle Pacific held the ball for the final 13 seconds to upset the first-seeded Wildcats and captured the Falcons' fifth conference title.

Up Next
Central's fate now lies in the NCAA selection committee to see if the Crimson and Black will continue its postseason with an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament. The selection show will take place on Sunday, March 9 on NCAA.com at 8:00 p.m. PST.