Western’s men’s basketball team let a 20-point first half lead get erased, but rebounded to beat Central Washington University, 84-70 in the quarterfinal game of the NCAA II West Regional at Carver Gym on Friday night.
The win puts Western in the regional semifinals, to be played on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. They will face California State Polytechnic University Pomona, who defeated Dixie State University in the quarterfinals earlier that day.
Senior guard Morris Anderson led the Vikings with 23 points, and took control of the game down the stretch with several big shots.
“In these games, especially against Central, anything can happen,” said Western head coach Brad Jackson. “We’ve played so many big games with them. They weren’t going to quit, we knew that, and we hit a bit of a rough spot. But I think our guys kept our composure. The ultimate scenario is what’s on the board on the end, and we’ll take that.”
Western received 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds from senior forward Derrick Webb, and 13 points from senior guard Andrew Ready.
Ready said the experience the Vikings have, with all five starters being seniors, helped them focus as a team when the game got close.
“We do a good job of leading, even when we get down,” Ready said. “This is the perfect example of how our experience helps us in games. We could have just given up, but we kept fighting, and were able to pull out the victory.”
The Vikings opened the game by using their aggressive defense to get out to an early lead. Anderson came up with a steal, then raced past three Central defenders, laying the ball in to give the Vikings a 15-6 lead with about 13 minutes left in the first half.
Anderson then drained a 3-pointer with just over two minutes left in the half to give Western a 20-point advantage. The Vikings went into the locker rooms at halftime with a 38-23 lead. They held Central to just 23% shooting in the half.
Central mounted a comeback in the second half. Central junior guard Toussant Tyler hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to eight. Western responded immediately, as Anderson drove the ball toward the basket before lobbying an alley-oop pass to sophomore forward Rory Blanche, who finished with a dunk.
But then Central went on a furious 12-0 run, finished off with two free throws to give the Wildcats a 59-57 lead with about eight minutes remaining. It was Central’s first lead since the score was 2-0.
And it would not last long, because Anderson then took over for the Vikings. He scored on two straight possessions to give Western back the lead, which they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
“Mo’s a great player,” said Jackson. “And there’s a time when great players step up. When he hit those two shots and got us the lead again, that’s who Mo is. And he’s our leader. He did what we needed him to do, when we needed him to do it.”
Central kept the score close down the stretch, but then Anderson made the play of the game to assure the win for Western. With about two and a half minutes left in the game, Anderson poked the ball away for a steal and took it the length of the court. He was fouled hard and spun around on his way to the basket, but somehow managed to make the shot while falling backwards. His free throw made the score 73-63, inspiring chants of ‘MVP’ from the home crowd.
Tyler led the Wildcats with 18 points. He was booed heavily by the Western student section every time he touched the ball, and was cheered when he shot an airball on a long-range shot in the first half.
Western had already knocked off Central, their Great Northwest Athletic Conference rivals, twice in the regular season. The Vikings won 84-70 in Ellensburg in January, and won 90-86 in Bellingham two weeks ago, a game that was televised by Fox Sports Northwest.
Next up for the Vikings is Pomona, who were 22-6 in the regular season.
“Cal Poly Pomona’s a great program,” said Jackson. “They played in the national championship game last year. They’re extremely well coached, they’re well disciplined, very athletic, very tough team.”
Ready said the Vikings will be mentally prepared for another big game.
“We’ll go and get some rest, focus in tomorrow on what our game plan is, and then same thing tomorrow,” Ready said. “Play as hard as we can, put our best foot forward, and we should be ok.”
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