Friday, March 8, 2024
by Evan O'Kelly, Assistant Commissioner For Communications

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Samaad Hector was mobbed by a swath of Wildcat fans in a state of pandemonium on Friday night at Nicholson Pavilion, after the senior sent Central Washington to the 2024 GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships title game with an 81-80 victory over No. 1 seed Montana State Billings.

With the Wildcats trailing 80-78 and the game in its waning seconds, Hector caught a pass from Bradley Swillie in rhythm and knocked down what he referred to as the biggest single shot of his basketball life. The 22-footer was clean from his fingertips through the twine, prompting a deafening eruption from an already raucous crowd.

In a seemingly impossible dash the Yellowjackets’ Daniel Moody streaked the length of the court in just 3.1 seconds and got a buzzer-beating layup off, but the potential game-winner was off the mark. The stunned No. 1 seed Yellowjackets, who led for all but 24 seconds in the semifinal matchup, were the only team to beat CWU on its home floor this season with a 74-59 win on Jan. 4.

The vengeful victory put the Wildcats into the GNAC Championships title game for the third time in program history, where they’ll face No. 6 seed Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time. The Wildcats’ lone conference tournament title came against UAA 13 years ago, when they topped the Seawolves 83-71 on March 4, 2011 in the inaugural event. CWU lost to Alaska 72-57 in 2022 in its only other appearance in the championship game. The winner of Saturday’s championship game will earn the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships.

CWU, which improved to 20-9 with Friday’s win, split its regular-season games with Alaska Anchorage as it won 75-66 in Ellensburg on Feb. 10 after a 75-61 loss in Anchorage on Jan. 11. Saturday will be the fourth time the two programs have met in the GNAC Championships, with UAA holding a 2-1 edge in the previous three encounters.

Hector finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in his 25 minutes on the floor Friday, making 6 of 7 shots including both of his 3-pointers. Jordan Clark, who concurred with Hector that being swarmed by the Wildcat faithful at center court was the top moment of his basketball career, led the team with 18 points on 5-for-10 shooting. Clark also expressed his disdain for making just 1 of 5 free throws in Thursday’s 90-76 quarterfinal win over Seattle Pacific as a motivating factor in Friday’s perfect 5-for-5 mark from the line.

Bolstering the Wildcats in the victory was a 13-point, five-rebound effort by Camron McNeil in 25 big bench minutes, and Maverick Sanders (12 points) and Swillie (10 points) each also reached double figures for CWU.

The Yellowjackets (20-8), who led by 10 points with 2:41 to go in the game, endured a heartbreaking finish to an otherwise sound performance. MSUB out-shot CWU 45.5% (25-for-55)-42.9% (27-for-63), made 14 of 25 threes (56.0%), had 17 assists on its 25 made shots, and had four players reach double figures in scoring. The Yellowjackets had 14 points off turnovers compared to just two for the Wildcats, and the teams were dead even with 37 rebounds apiece.

Senior Zharon Richmond put forth one of the best games of his career, scoring 27 points on 8-for-13 shooting – including 3-for-3 from long range – and completed his third double-double of the year with a game-high 12 rebounds. GNAC Player of the Year Jalen Tot had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists and GNAC Newcomer of the Year Moody scored 11 points while adding seven rebounds and three assists.

In a precursor to Hector’s heroic game-winner, his first made three of the night gave CWU its first lead, 45-43 at the 15:11 mark in the second half. The Yellowjackets, who had maintained momentum the entire game up to that point, responded with a 12-0 run that seemed to tilt the balance back in their favor. Bryce Whitaker, who had reached double figures in scoring just three times this season, keyed the crucial scoring burst as he connected on back-to-back threes on the way to a resurgent, 55-45 lead for the ‘Jackets.

On a night where the Wildcats had to overcome an 8-0 deficit to start the game and a nine-point deficit late in the first half, yet another glaring hole with 12:08 to go seemed insurmountable against the GNAC’s regular-season champion. This time MSUB refused to let the Wildcats chip away, as Whitaker responded to a Colby Gennett trey with his third of the night and a Richmond three with 2:41 to go kept the spread at 73-63.

Clark helped keep his team’s season alive by converting a 3-point play that kicked off a string of 5-for-5 shooting and 6-for-7 on free throws by the Wildcats over the final three minutes of the game. By comparison, MSUB went just 1-for-2 from the floor and made just 5 of 9 free throws during the same span.

GAME NOTES: Friday was the third meeting between the two programs at the GNAC Championships, with CWU claiming each of the previous two games…MSUB won both of the regular-season meetings between the two…MSUB tied the GNAC Championships record for made 3-pointers in a game, and matched its season high from Dec. 18, 2023 against Rollins…Alaska Anchorage made 14 treys in its 2022 GNAC Championships contest against Seattle Pacific.