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February 7, 2008 Lacey, WA – Saint Martin’s posted a strong first half comeback but couldn’t hold on in the second half as they fell to Central Washington University, 100-76, Thursday night at the SMU Pavilion. Central scored the first 16 points of the game holding the Saints scoreless for over five minutes. With 9:12 left in the half, down 26-10, SMU rallied scoring 15 unanswered points to pull within one on a layup by Justin Alexander. Jake Linton would hit a three just over a minute later to give Saint Martin’s their first lead at 30-29. The Wildcats took a lead into the break (40-37) which they would hold onto the rest of the game. They continued to add to their lead pulling ahead by double-digits with 10 minutes to go and the Saints just could not recover. “After a less than stellar start I though we responded really well. We scrapped and clawed and got back in it but they are a very good team,” said head coach Keith Cooper. Linton led the Saints with 24 points, four of five from behind the arc, and had five steals. Bill Richardson added 16 points while Blake Poole had 12, going six for six from the line. Mike Ognoskie led the Saints with six boards. Central got a game high 26 points from Matt Penoncello and 10 rebounds each from Johnny Spevak and Jake Beitinger. Saint Martin’s, who drops to 4-6 in conference, 9-10 overall, outshot CWU 50 percent to 47.9 percent but got off 13 fewer shots. Central controlled the boards, outrebounding the Saints 44-27. “They would have been a challenge if we were healthy but not having Brendan’s (Campbell) toughness out there hurt us and it was evident in the second half,” added Cooper. “Hopefully we can learn from a team like Central the toughness it takes to be a playoff caliber team in this league.” The Saints are back at home this Saturday in GNAC action against Western Washington University.
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