BY CHACE DAVY, Staff Reporter

After winning six of eight games and sitting in fourth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the Central Washington University men’s basketball team took a turn for the worse, losing four straight and falling to seventh in the GNAC.

Their most recent loss, featured on ROOT Sports, was a thriller against in-state rival Western. With the game tied at 91 and just 2.6 seconds left on the clock, Western guard Richard Woodworth sank a half-court shot as the buzzer sounded to end Central’s bid for an upset.

With just two games left in the regular season, a lot needs to go right for the Wildcats to gain a berth in the GNAC tournament.

Central needs both teams that have not clinched a playoff spot ahead of them in the standings, Montana State Billings and Western Oregon, to suffer at least one loss in the final week of the regular season.

The Wildcats need to win both of their remaining games to end up in a tie in the GNAC standings.

They’re certainly going to have a shot at making that come true when they play against Billings in the last game of the season on Saturday.

“We have to play like every play is a game-winning play,” freshman guard Marc Rogers said.

The Wildcats’ game tonight is at home against the No. 13 nationally ranked Seattle Pacific University, which boasts a 13-3 GNAC record.

Containing a top-scoring attack, such as the one that SPU has, is going to be big in coming out victorious on Thursday.

One of the keys to success against SPU will be limiting its offensive rebounds, which is something that SPU has done very well over the course of the season.

SPU heads to Ellensburg fresh off of an overtime loss against Montana State Billings, one of the teams that Central is competing against for the last spots in the GNAC tournament.

“The biggest thing we have to do is put two halves of basketball together,” head coach Greg Sparling said.

Sparling was referring to their recent games against both Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks, in which the Wildcats held a double-digit lead at halftime and watched it slip away in the second half of play.

The Wildcats have remained confident in themselves, despite the current losing streak. Central is looking to give SPU back-to-back losses for the first time since Jan. 4, when they lost to both Western Oregon and Saint Martin’s in a three-day span.

“We have to take it one game at a time,” senior guard Mark McLaughlin said.

Thursday’s game against SPU is going to be a black out. Fans attending are encouraged to wear all black to the game.

Saturday’s game against MSUB is senior night, and the coaches and players are encouraging everybody to show up and support the seniors on this year’s squad.

The final two games are going to be very special for McLaughlin, who, earlier this year, became the fastest player in GNAC history to reach 1,000 points. This week is going to be McLaughlin’s last games as an eligible Central basketball player.

“I’m just gonna go out there and give it everything I’ve got,” McLaughlin said.