College roundup: Central men fall out of GNAC top six

NAMPA, Idaho — Central Washington bounced back from an early defecit to take the lead at halftime, but couldn’t hang on, losing to Northwest Nazarene 75-70 on Saturday night at the Johnson Sports Center.

It was a costly loss for the Wildcats (4-8 GNAC, 10-10 overall) because it dropped them out of a tie for sixth place. The top six teams qualify for the GNAC tournament.

Central trailed until midway through the first half, when the Wildcats went on a 12-4 run capped by Kevin Davis’ dunk.

Central led 38-33 at the half and would extend its lead to seven points with about 12 minutes remaining.

Northwest Nazarene rallied to take the lead with just under three minutes remaining and took the lead for good with 1:05 to play.

“We’ve got to figure out how to finish games out,” Central coach Greg Sparling said, adding that the Wildcats just couldn’t convert good scoring chances late in the game.

“We had a handful of in-and-outs,” he said. “We had decent looks.”

Lacy Haddock led five Wildcats in double figures with 14 points. Also reaching double figures for CWU were Jody Johnson (13 points), Jordan Coby (12), Toussaint Tyler (11) and Kevin Davis (11).

JB Pillard scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the second half for Northwest Nazarene (5-7, 11-9).

CENTRAL WASHINGTON — Lacy Haddock 6-7 1-1 14; Jody Johnson 4-12 5-6 13; Jordan Coby 3-8 4-4 12; Toussaint Tyler 2-11 6-6 11; Kevin Davis 5-9 1-2 11; Clyde 2-5 3-6 7; Magee 1-1 0-0 2; Starr 0-1 0-0 0; Nelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 20-25 70.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE — JB Pillard 9-11 2-2 21; Anthony Golden 5-13 2-2 15; Michal Kurimsky 5-8 5-5 15; Jonathan Hawkins 3-10 7-9 13; Nicholes 1-4 4-4 6; Maxwell 1-4 0-0 3; Moilanen 1-3 0-0 2; Shula 0-1 0-0 0; Hering 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 20-22 75.

Halftime—Central Washington 38, Northwest Nazarene 33. 3-point goals—Central Washington 4-11 (Coby 2-5; Tyler 1-4; Haddock 1-1; Starr 0-1), Northwest Nazarene 5-16 (Golden 3-7; Maxwell 1-4; Pillard 1-1; Moilanen 0-2; Hawkins 0-2). Fouled out—Moilanen. Rebounds—Central Washington 34 (Johnson 12), Northwest Nazarene 28 (Golden 6). Assists—Central Washington 6 (Haddock 3), Northwest Nazarene 10 (Nicholes 3; Hawkins 3). Total fouls—Central Washington 17, Northwest Nazarene 17. Technical fouls—None. Att—562.

Big Bend runs past YVCC men

MOSES LAKE, Wash. — Yakima Valley faded after a strong first half, while Big Bend, behind the tandem of Blake Skidmore and Antonio Snow helped Big Bend, got hot and rolled to an 80-66 victory in an NWAACC East Region men’s basketball game Saturday.

The loss dropped YVCC (6-2, 13-7) into a second-place tie in the region with Walla Walla, which defeated Treasure Valley 89-76 Saturday. Both are a half-game behind Spokane (6-1 region), which beat Wenatchee Valley 78-61 Saturday.

Yakima Valley led 38-36 at the half, helped by 12-of-24 shooting, but the Yaks cooled off to just 36 percent (8 of 22) after halftime, while Big Bend converted on 55.6 percent of its second-half shots (15 of 27) in outscoring the Yaks 44-28.

Skidmore and Snow went for 24 and 22 points, respectively, including a combined 13 of 15 from the foul line.

Amir Royal led Yakima Valley with 19 points and six rebounds, while DeShawn Battle added 12 points and six rebounds, and Cameron Jensen scored 10 points.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Diggs 1-4 0-0 2, Battle 3-5 6-8 12, Royal 5-12 8-8 19, Martinez 1-2 1-2 3, Bagby 4-5 1-4 9, Molina 2-3 2-2 7, Henson 1-2 0-0 3, Kemsem 3-6 2-2 10, Romero 0-1 0-0 0, Flowers 0-6 1-2 1. Totals 20-46 21-28 66.

BIG BEND — James 1-1 3-3 5, Loera 2-9 1-4 5, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Bruneel 0-0 2-2 2, Groth 2-3 3-5 8, Skidmore 8-18 7-9 24, Green 1-3 0-0 2, Snow 8-14 6-6 22, Page 1-1 0-0 2, Nield 4-8 1-1 10. Totals 27-57 23-30 80.

Halftime—YVCC 38, BBCC 36. 3-Point goals—YVCC 5-15 (Jensen 2-3, Molina 1-1, Henton 1-2, Royal 1-6, Martinez 0-1, Flowers 0-2), BBCC 3-17 (Groth 1-2, Skidmore 1-2, Nield 1-5, Snow 0-2, Loera 0-6). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—YVCC 34 (Battle 6, Royal 6), BBCC 30 (Loera 6, Skidmore 6). Assists—YVCC 9 (Royal 2), BBCC 12 (Skidmore 3). Total fouls—YVCC 21, BBCC 19.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Yaks avenge Big Bend loss

MOSES LAKE, Wash. — Sam Zapien and Jaimi Cox combined to score 35 points Saturday as Yakima Valley beat Big Bend 67-49 in East Region play to keep the Yaks tied for first place.

The victory improved YVCC to 7-1 in region action and 17-4 overall, maintaining its first-place tie with Columbia Basin.

It also avenged a 65-64 loss to the Vikings (4-5, 14-8) in Sherar Gym on Jan. 11.

The Yaks won without substantial production from either of their top scorers, Brittney Newcomb and Simone Jordan, who combined for only 10 points on 3-for-18 shooting.

But Zapien hit 8 of 11 shots and totaled 18 points to go with a team-high seven rebounds, and Cox was also 8 for 11 en route to 17 points.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Newcomb 0-7 3-4 3, Jaimi Cox 8-11 1-2 17, K. Gonzales 1-4 2-2 5, Jordan 3-11 1-2 7, Sam Zapien 8-11 2-3 18, A. Gonzales 0-0 2-2 2, Brewster 1-5 0-0 2, Swetzof 4-5 0-0 9, Weaver 0-0 0-0 0, Lekson 2-5 0-0 4, Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0, Smythe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 11-15 67.

BIG BEND — Lopez 2-5 0-0 4, Kelsey 2-8 2-2 7, Scott 0-2 0-0 0, Alli Nielsen 6-12 2-2 14, Nielsen 0-1 2-2 2, Morris 2-3 1-2 6, Zollinger 4-5 1-2 9, Nield 0-2 0-0 0, Tews 0-4 0-0 0, Martinez 1-3 0-2 2, Smith 2-4 0-1 5, Lopez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 8-13 49.

Halftime — YVCC 31-19. 3-point goals — YVCC 2-10 (Newcomb 0-3, Swetzof 1-2, K. Gonzales 1-4, Lekson 0-1); BBCC 3-12 (Morrris 1-1, Kelsey 1-5, Scott 0-1, Nielsen 0-1, Tews 0-2, Smith 1-2). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — YVCC 34 (Zapien 7); BBCC 34 (Zollinger 5). Assists — YVCC 11 (Newcomb 5); BBCC 11

Russell scores 26 in losing effort

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Sophie Russell scored 26 points to become the sixth player in Central Washington women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 for her career, but the Wildcats fell to Northwest Nazarene 58-54 in GNAC play Saturday in Nicholson Pavilion.

Russell, the only Wildcat in double figures, hit 9 of 22 field goal attempts including 5 of 12 from 3-point range. She also grabbed nine rebounds.

CWU (3-9 GNAC, 6-13 overall) led 28-27 at halftime and was tied 39-39 with 12:03 to play, but the Crusaders (7-5, 13-7) scored seven unanswered points and the Wildcats got no closer than three thereafter.

Megan Hingston led NNU with 19 points.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE — Megan Hingston 5-9 9-10 19, Chelsie Luke 6-12 1-1 16, Briaunna King 6-12 1-1 13, Dzhdzhiyeshvili 2-12 1-2 5, Smith 0-4 0-0 0, Adams 2-5 1-2 5, Skokankova 0-0 0-0 0, Warwick 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-55 13-16 58.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON — VanDyke 2-7 2-2 8, Johnson 2-5 1-2 6, Albrecht 2-4 0-2 4, Dunn 2-8 0-0 4, Sophie Russell 9-22 3-4 26, Burke 0-1 0-0 0, Valdez 0-1 0-0 0, Fettig 2-4 2-3 6, Moser 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-53 8-13 54.

Halftime — CWU 28-27. 3-point goals — NNU 3-9 (Luke 3-5, Smith 0-1, Adams 0-3); CWU 8-20 (VanDyke 2-5, Johnson 1-2, Russell 5-12, Burke 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — NNU 27 (King 10); CWU 44 (Albrecht 10). Assists — NNU 10 (Smith 4); CWU 12 (VanDyke 4). Turnovers — NNU 11, CWU 20. Total fouls — NNU 19, CWU 14.

COLLEGE TRACK AND FIELD

CWU’S Boyes 2nd at Vandal Indoor

MOSCOW, Idaho — Central Washington’s Brennan Boyes finished second in the high jump with a provisional national qualifying time of 6 feet, 81/4 inch during the Vandal Indoor on Friday.

Boyes’ mark equaled the No. 3 mark in GNAC history.

His teammate Bryan Mack had two second-place finishes — in the triple jump (45-93/4) and 60 (6.89).

In women’s competition, CWU’s Katharine Lotze placed second in the triple jump (38-41/4) while Kati Davis was third in the pole vault (11-113/4).