January 15, 2009
ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Matt Penoncello scored 15 of his 24 points in the first half Thursday when Central Washington took control en route to a 77-62 win over Seattle Pacific in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Nicholson Pavilion.
The Falcons record dropped to 9-5 and they sustained their first loss in three conference outings. Central improved to 8-3 and 2-1 in GNAC play.
Seattle Pacific entered the game shooting 53.1 percent from the field, the finest figure in the nation. The Falcons shot just 29 percent (8-of-28) in the first half. The 38 percent (23-of-60) mark for the game was their lowest effort of the season and just their third sub 50-percent performance in a game.
The Wildcats countered with 46-percent shooting (30-of-65) and outrebounded the Falcons 42-30.
SPU jumped out to an early lead, claiming its largest margin of the game at 8-5 on a layup by
Rob Diederichs with 16:29 left in the first half. Central responded with 14 unanswered points over the next 4:30 to capture the lead for good. Penoncello tallied five points to power the run that resulted in a 19-8 Wildcats advantage.
Penoncello grabbed 10 of his 13 rebounds in the opening period, helping CWU to a 35-21 halftime lead.
The margin never grew larger than 16 points despite stellar 59-percent second-half shooting (17-of-29) by Central.
The Falcons trimmed that 16-point deficit to 43-40 on a dunk by
Casey Reed with 11:37 left to play. Jake Beitinger answered with a three-point play at 11:27 that ignited a nine-point Wildcats run. CWU's surge netted a 52-40 lead with 9:38 remaining and the game never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
SPU's
Brandon Larrieu led all scorers with 27 points, 22 of them coming after halftime. The 6-foot junior guard also led the Falcons with eight rebounds. Senior
Casey Reed contributed 12 points and four blocks for SPU and
Jeff Downs added 12 points off the bench.
Beitinger finished with 16 points for Central, which also got 11 from Brandon Foote and 10 from Giovonne Woods.
The SPU men remain on the road and play at Western Washington, Saturday at 7 p.m.
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009
Nicholson Pavilion/Ellensburg, Wash.
Central Washington 77, Seattle Pacific 62
SEATTLE PACIFIC (9-5, 2-1 GNAC) -- Larrieu 9-19 5-6 27; Reed 5-11 2-2 12; Downs 4-9 2-2 12; Banchero 2-10 0-0 4; Moreira 1-6 1-2 3; Anderson 1-3 0-0 2; Diederichs 1-1 0-0 2; Vranes 0-0 0-0 0; Wardell 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 23-60 10-12 62.
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (8-3, 2-1 GNAC) -- Penoncello 10-20 2-2 24; Beitinger 7-12 1-1 16; Foote 4-8 3-3 11; Woods 5-12 0-4 10; Clift 2-2 3-4 8; Spevak 2-4 1-2 6; Scott 0-1 2-2 2; Sprinker 0-3 0-0 0; Sivak 0-3 0-0 0; Nelson 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 30-65 12-18 77.
Halftime--Central Washington 35, Seattle Pacific 21.
3-point goals--Seattle Pacific 6-20 (Larrieu 4-8; Downs 2-6; Banchero 0-3; Anderson 0-1; Wardell 0-1; Reed 0-1), Central Washington 5-15 (Penoncello 2-7; Beitinger 1-2; Spevak 1-1; Clift 1-1; Sprinker 0-1; Scott 0-1; Woods 0-2). Fouled out--Seattle Pacific-Reed, Central Washington-Foote.
Rebounds--Seattle Pacific 30 (Larrieu 8), Central Washington 42 (Penoncello 13).
Assists--Seattle Pacific 13 (Larrieu 3; Reed 3), Central Washington 14 (Scott 6).
Total fouls--Seattle Pacific 22, Central Washington 17.
Technical fouls--Seattle Pacific-None, Central Washington-None.
Att--1620.
