BILLINGS, Mont. – The Central Washington University men's basketball team used a strong 54-36 second half run to comeback and overtake Montana State Billing for a big road victory on Saturday evening.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
 

• Final: Central Washington (85), Montana State Billings (72)
• Records: CWU (9-9, 3-4 GNAC), MSUB (15-5, 4-3 GNAC)
• Location: Alterowitz Gymnasium (Billings, Mont.)

 
QUOTING CWU HEAD MEN'S BASKETBALL COACH BRANDON RINTA:

"That was a very gutsy win by this team. Billings is hard to beat at home. We have been defending well the last stretch of games. Unfortunately, we just haven't been making shots. The lid finally came off the basket for us in the second half with us going 6-10 from 3. Calvin had a great game and got us going early. Jordan had another impressive shooting performance. I give Bradley a lot of credit for what he did to our offense. He was creating for his teammates all game long and it showed with his 9 assists."

HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• The Wildcats got two strong plays early on to take a 4-3 lead, but the Yellowjackets responded with seven unanswered points from Jakob Milling and Miles Gurske to take a 10-4 lead.
• Jordan Clark found an answer for CWU, hitting a three-pointer to cut the lead to three points, then Eli Williams hit a layup to cut that to one. Then, for nearly three minutes, both teams played a defensive battle that saw neither team score.
• MSUB broke the drought with 13:30 left when Brandon Tchouya hit a layup to take a 12-9 lead. The 'Jackets got another layup from Croix Cox, followed by Tchouya with another layup to make it a 16-9 lead.
• Chae Haynes broke the run with a free throw with just under 12 minutes, but Gurske and Cox responded with four points to take a 20-10 lead. The 'Cats found a spark from Clark hitting a pair of free throws and went on an 11-2 run to make it a 21-22 game with 7:31 left in the half.
• Ty Cox stopped the run for MSUB with a layup to take a 24-21 lead, followed by Mason Landdeck hitting a jump shot to give the 'Jackets a five-point lead. Both teams battled, scoring nearly equally to close the first half with the Yellowjackets holding a 36-31 lead at the break.
• MSUB opened the second half with a 7-4 run to make it a 43-35 lead off strong plays from Gurske and a good play from Croix Cox as he got a layup to fall while getting fouled. He would convert the and-one. However, Central came alive after Calvin Sisk hit a layup to spark a 12-point streak to take a 47-43 lead with 13:01 remaining.
• The 'Jackets broke the run with Landdeck hitting a layup, starting a 5-2 run to make it a one-point game. However, Swillie hit a jump shot to give CWU an 8-2 run to make it 57-51 with 9:36 left.
• Then, the Yellowjackets found an offensive performance from Landdeck to force an 8-5 run to bring the score with three. Clark answered with a three-pointer to give the Wildcats a six-point lead with 7:09 remaining.
• MSUB found chances to cut the lead down mostly off of free throws as the 'Jackets got the score to 65-66, but then the 'Cats responded in a big way with an 11-3 run off three-pointers off of Clark, Swillie, and Jamari Harris to make it a 77-68 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
• Gurske got fouled to get to the charity stripe and he drained both to keep MSUB's chances alive, but CWU's defense held strong and got a pair of free throws from Xavier Kamalu-Vargas to make it a nine-point lead, then Swillie hit the dagger on layup to make it 81-70. The Yellowjackets fought to try and cut the lead down, but Central held on to win it 85-72.
   

STATS FROM THE GAME:
 

• Clark led CWU, offensively, with 32 points, while recording four assists, two rebounds, and two steals, while also going 10-18 from the court for a 55.6 percentage.
• Sisk tacked on 15 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks, while shooting 100 percent on seven shots.
• Swillie logged 13 points, nine assists, five rebounds, and two blocks.
• Strong performances off the bench included Harris (9 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk), Kamalu-Vargas (6 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast), and Chae Haynes (6 pts, 3 reb).
• CWU shot 51.7 percent from the floor, 36.4 percent from three, and 77.3 percent at the free-throw line.
• Gurske led the Yellowjackets with 32 points, six rebound, and two assists, while shooting 76.9 percentage on 13 shots from the field.
• MSUB shot 38.8 percent from the floor, 16 percent from three, and 76.2 percent at the free-throw line.
• The teams tied the rebound battle at 37-37, while Central out-rebounded the 'Jackets on the defensive side 30-24, and MSUB led offensive rebounds 13-7.

 
SERIES HISTORY:
 

• The Wildcats lead the all-time series 28-15.
• Central is on a two-game win-streak.
• CWU is 10-9 against the Yellowjackets in Alterowitz Gymnasium.

 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Wildcats return home to Nicholson Arena next week, hosting #17 Saint Martin's on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m.
• Central will then take on Western Oregon on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 7:15 p.m.
• Both games will be part of a CWU basketball doubleheader with the Wildcat women's basketball team playing at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.