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Seawolf streak ends on OT buzzer-beater at CWU

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Seawolf streak ends on OT buzzer-beater at CWU

ELLENSBURG, Wash. ? Central Washington's Matt Penoncello scored a layup off an inbounds pass with six-tenth of a second remaining in overtime to give his team a 74-72 win over 4th-ranked Alaska Anchorage and snap the Seawolves' winning streak at 18 games.

Luke Cooper scored 20 points and dished 12 assists for UAA (20-4, 11-1), but the Seawolves' high-scoring trio of Carl Arts, McCade Olsen and Chris Bryant was held to a combined 27 points ? 20 less than their season average.

CWU (16-6, 10-3), which pulled within one and half games of UAA in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings, got a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds from forward Jake Beitinger, plus 11 points and seven rebounds from Penoncello.

Both teams managed double-digit leads, with UAA going up by 12 in the first half and CWU earning a 54-44 advantage with 11:13 remaining. The game would be tied at 59, however, when Cooper converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 6:44 left.

The Seawolves went up 62-59 when Cameron Burney connected on his fourth three-pointer of the night, and led 65-61 on Olsen's trey at the 2:23 mark. UAA failed to convert on its next two offensive possessions, however, and CWU's Bryce Daub scored on a putback with 1:05 remaining to make it 65-all. That what would prove to be the final basket of regulation.

UAA held a brief 69-68 lead in the extra session, and Bryant nailed his only basket off the game with 16 seconds left to tie it 72-72.

Looking for a second chance at a last-second shot, the Wildcats passed the ball around and had it knocked out of bounds with 2.5 seconds on the clock. After a CWU timeout, the Wildcats ran a perfect inbounds play from Johnny Spevak (4 assists) to Penoncello, who converted a layup with less than a second left.

UAA lost for the first time to a Division II opponent (20-1) despite shooting 11 of 20 from three-point range. The Seawolves were outrebounded badly, though, 39-29, as their school and GNAC records win streaks came to a halt.

Burney finished with 14 points (4-6 3FG) for his highest-ever output in a GNAC game, while Arts finished with 13 points on just 4-of-12 shooting. Olsen recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but the 6-8 senior fouled out in overtime after playing just 24 minutes.

Cooper kept UAA in contention all night with his season-high 20 points (5-10 FG, 9-11 FT), while his 12 assists earned him his second straight double-double. The Aussie played all 45 minutes without a turnover as he moved from 10th to eighth place on the NCAA Div. II all-time assists list (776). With 206 assists through 24 games, the NCAA Div. II leader now has the top two single-season assist totals in UAA history. Cooper set the school record with 230 in 2006-07.

The Seawolves finish their regular season with four of six games at the friendly confines of the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, while the Wildcats must go on the road for three of their last five.

UAA will take on last-place Montana State Billings on Thursday, Feb. 21 at the WFSC. Tip-off is 7 p.m. AST.

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Players Mentioned

Carl Arts

#34 Carl Arts

F
6' 6"
Junior
Luke Cooper

#14 Luke Cooper

G
6' 0"
Freshman
Cameron Burney

#30 Cameron Burney

F
6' 6"
Sophomore
McCade Olsen

#23 McCade Olsen

F
6' 8"
Junior
Chris Bryant

#2 Chris Bryant

G
6' 4"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Carl Arts

#34 Carl Arts

6' 6"
Junior
F
Luke Cooper

#14 Luke Cooper

6' 0"
Freshman
G
Cameron Burney

#30 Cameron Burney

6' 6"
Sophomore
F
McCade Olsen

#23 McCade Olsen

6' 8"
Junior
F
Chris Bryant

#2 Chris Bryant

6' 4"
Senior
G