CWU men’s basketball has performed well 14 games into the season, with the team winning its last five games. They sit at a 11-3 overall record while going 6-2 in the GNAC.

The biggest question before the start of the season was how the Wildcats would look offensively due to the graduation of four of their top five scorers from last year, forward Joseph Stroud, guards Joey Roppo Gary Jacobs and Devin Matthews.

That question has been firmly answered in the form of senior guard Dom Hunter, who transferred from University of Alaska-Anchorage and an increased role for sophomore guard Naim Ladd and junior guard Jawan Stepney.

Hunter is leading the conference in scoring (25.5 points per game), while throwing up almost nine 3-point attempts per game, after sitting out last season due to conference transfer rules. The senior has also gone to the free throw line 103 times, tied for second in the conference, while sinking 89 of them (86.4 percentage). Hunter was not expected to perform at such a high level, but he has more than stepped into the vacuum left by the loss of seniors.

Ladd, who played a sixth man role for the Wildcats last season, has stepped up in a starting role and has joined Hunter in a 3-point shot assault on opponents, averaging 7.5, 3-point attempts per game. The team is leading the conference in made 3-point shots (11.2), while averaging 28 attempts.

Stepney, a transfer from Cochise College in Arizona, only averages three 3-point shot attempts per game but he has proven to be a reliable cutter. Making 49 percent of his field goal attempts, he can finish at the rim which helps the offense get open shots on the perimeter. He has also proven to be a reliable wing defender, a role that needed to be filled with the loss of Gary Jacobs and the decision to redshirt senior guard Desmond Ross this season.

The team still has to face conference leader Western Washington (13-3 overall, 7-1 GNAC) both at home and away, but the team has found a way to compete despite losing the entire top of their roster. The team will only lose Hunter, forward Chris-Michael Garret and senior guard Terry Dawn, who after averaging 39 percent on 3-point attempts the last two seasons is only shooting at 30 percent this season. The team will get back forward Drake Rademacher (who is out this year with a torn ACL) and guard Desmond Ross (who redshirted) in addition to any recruits brought in. Things are looking up for this season and beyond.