Jan. 26, 2008

Box Score

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Despite jumping to an 11-point lead early in the game, Western Washington University fell 86-63 to arch-rival Central Washington University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game Saturday before a crowd of 3,172 at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Vikings dropped to 10-6 overall and 3-4 in the GNAC with their fifth loss in the last eight games. Guard Ira Graham (Jr., Fontana, CA) had 17 points for Western, and forward Calin Schell (Jr., Chelan) added 14 points and a career and game-high 15 rebounds.

Central improved to 11-5 overall with its eighth win in 10 games and 5-2 in the GNAC. Forward Matt Penoncello led the Wildcats with 20 points. He was 9-of-12 from the field, hitting his first eight attempts.

Western got off to a quick start, hitting six of its first 10 shots from the field and jumping to a 13-2 lead 4:25 into the game. The Vikings were still up by eight, 23-15, with under nine minutes left in the half, but then went more than five minutes without scoring as Central ran off 17 straight points to take a 32-23 lead. The Wildcats led 38-29 at halftime.

Central then expanded the lead, opening the second half with a 15-5 run and taking a 19-point lead, 53-34, on a 3-pointer by Penoncello with 16 minutes left. Western never got closer than 13 points after that, and was not closer than 19 in the final five minutes.

Central, which entered the game averaging a GNAC-best 87.3 points a game, shot only 41.6 percent (32-of-77) from the field, but grabbed 22 offensive rebounds, turning them into 21 second-chance points.

Center Jake Beitinger, like Penoncello a transfer from Eastern Washington, had 15 points for the Wildcats, and Brandon Foote came off the bench to contribute 14 points.

Western, which suffered its first double-digit loss of the season, shot only 40.0 percent (24-of-60) from the field, its third-lowest mark of the year, and committed a season-high 22 turnovers.

"We gave up 22 offensive rebounds, that's incredibly bad," said Western coach Brad Jackson. "We didn't execute very well tonight - they pressured us and we didn't handle it well."

Western, which entered the game shooting a school-record low 61.8 percent at the free throw line, continued its foul-shooting woes, going just 12-of-21 (57.1 percent).

The contest marked the return from suspension of guard Andrew Ready (Jr., Chicago, IL/Westinghouse). Ready, who had missed the last eight games, had seven points and five assists.

Western returns home to entertain Montana State University Billings on Thursday, Jan. 31 (7 p.m.) at Carver Gym.

Central routs rival Vikings

By ROGER UNDERWOOD, YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

ELLENSBURG -- This time, there was no buzzer-beating basket. Nor was there a key rebound, a pivotal steal or even a controversial call among the late-game drama of this Central Washington-Western Washington matchup.

Because there was no late-game drama.

All other elements typical of a long-standing rivalry were in evidence, though, including team-wide euphoria following the Wildcats' 86-63 dominance before a near-capacity crowd of 3,172 Saturday night in Nicholson Pavilion.

"Simply put, that was amazing," said Central's Brandon Foote. "That was a great experience and a great feeling. That was just about as good as it could possibly have been."

Especially for Foote, a Bellingham High School graduate who came to CWU after two years at Whatcom Community College.

Asked if he'd been recruited by his hometown college, Foote smiled and said, "Simply put, no. But there's no hard feelings."

Just a hard-earned and impressive victory for Central, which stayed solidly in the GNAC title hunt after improving to 5-2 in conference play and 11-5 overall. Western slipped to 3-3 and 10-6.

Foote, a 6-foot-3 junior, was among several CWU standouts, totaling 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds in 23 off-the-bench minutes.

Matt Penoncello and Jake Beitinger, junior transfers from Eastern Washington, had 20 and 15 points, respectively, while Nate Jackson finished with 11.

But as vital to this outcome as scoring were things the Wildcats did without the ball, such as the Johnny Spevak-led defensive assault on high-scoring Ira Graham.

The explosive 6-1 Graham, the top GNAC scorer at 20.4 points a game coming in, got 17 this time. But six came in the final 6:25 after Central had built a 69-51 lead.

And when Spevak hit a free throw to complete a three-point play with 3:51 to go, the Wildcats lead had swelled to 79-55 and many among the vocal throng began heading for the exits.

"We're starting to defend," Central coach Greg Sparling said, relishing the numbers on a postgame statistics sheet. "Some of the things we did tonight ... left me in a little bit of awe."

Including the Wildcats' recovery from a 13-2 deficit, their staging of a game-turning17-0 run later in the first half and a 6-0 burst to start the second.

Ahead 38-29 at intermission, Central saw its advantage rapidly reach 15 after a bucket by Beitinger, a layup by Bryce Daub and then a backcourt steal and hanging, five-foot banker Penoncello.

The Wildcats went scoreless for 4:14 after boosting their margin to 64-43, but Western was unable to get closer than 64-51 during the drought, and a 10-2 run featuring seven points by Foote and three by Spevak sealed it.

"Defense is our bread and butter," said the 6-5 Penoncello, whose performance included 9-for-12 shooting, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

"We've found our identity, I think, the past couple of weeks, and guys have totally bought into the system and the things the coaches want us to do."

Such as disrupting the opponent with persistent on-the-ball pressure and alert, aggressive full-court trapping.

The Vikings, with only one senior on their 15-player roster, shot just 40 percent from the field and committed 20 turnovers.

And despite the presence of 6-10 sophomore Steve Severin, a sophomore from Hanford High School, and 6-7 Calin Schell, Central won the rebound battle 48-39, including 22-13 at the offensive glass.

"We've been getting after it pretty hard in practice," Penoncello said. "We've had guys wanting to fight each other, and stuff like that, just because we're playing so hard. And it's fun. It's a great group of guys and we all get along really well."

They've played well, too. Central, with home games coming Wednesday night against Seattle University and Saturday night against Montana State Billings, has won eight of 10.

"This team plays off energy," Sparling said, "and you could see that tonight. We had no shortage of energy or effort, and the guys were unselfish, too.

We might have forced a couple of shots, but in this situation and in this kind of environment, you can expect that."

Shrug it off, too. Especially when you beat your arch-rival by 23.