Dom Williams’ last second jumper to seal the victory for the Wildcats in their annual cross state rivalry game against Western Washington University (WWU) this past year was the exclamation mark ROOT Sports was looking for.

With just seconds left on the clock and, for what seemed to be a lifetime, Williams dribbled around the top of the key until draining a step back jumper, ending the game.

ROOT Sports, who will be covering the game this Saturday, is hoping for another captivating  game to broadcast to the entire northwest region.

Each year ROOT Sports televises the Central and WWU rivalry. The Vikings have recently controlled the rivalry with a 7-3 record against the Wildcats since 2010.

“The rivalry is still there,” junior guard Terry Dawn said. “They’re gonna be pissed off about us winning last year, but I mean that happened to us the year before that, so we know they’re gonna come out ready to go.”

In the 2013-14 season, WWU had the first laugh as they pulled off a last-second victory in their house. Now an alumni, forward JB Pillard tied the game for Central with 2.6 seconds left on the clock. Then WWU guard Richard Woodworth hit a last-second half-court shot to win the game.

The past three meetings between Central and WWU have been close with the average margin of victory being three points.

The vibe for the Wildcats heading into this week has been upbeat with high anticipation for Saturday’s game.

“You try and not make too different, as far as preparation,” said interim head coach Drew Harris. “You know that it’s in the back of all our player’s minds that we got Western Saturday.”

Central still has a game today against Simon Fraser University they need to get through before they can give all their attention to WWU.

Most of the Wildcats have played on ROOT sports before, but none have coached and played on ROOT Sports like Harris has.

“Obviously it’s a high emotions with a big rivalry game, and it’s even more packed than our other games,” Harris said. “We just tell our guys to not do anything extra and play our game.”

College sports has a big emphasis on their crowds, especially their students. When WWU and ROOT Sports come to town they usually draw a big crowd. Central is expecting another packed house this year. According to Harris, there is only a few hundred tickets left to sell.

“I think it’s enjoyable to play in front of big crowds. I think it’s why you play the game,” senior guard Gary Jacobs said. “I think that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.”

Even though playing in front of large crowds gives players something to feed of off, the crowd noise can present many problems concerning communication throughout the game.

“Just staying calm and don’t let the moment get too big…just realize that it’s just another game,” senior forward Joseph Stroud said about dealing the emotion of the game.

Last year, after Williams hit the game winner the entire Central student section swarmed the court in a wave of excitement. According to Dawn, a Central player was stepped on after falling down in the midst of the chaos last year.

“It’s awesome,” Dawn said “You’re just in the middle of everything and it’s rowdy, people are screaming, and it’s just chaotic. Just don’t fall down though.”

With all things considered the Wildcats understand that it’s just a game at the end of the day and playing as a team will bring home the victory.

“[We] just gotta play as a team man. As long as my team brings their A-game and if every individual brings what they’re supposed to do to the table, I think we’re gonna win,” Jacobs said.