Box Score ELLENSBURG, WA (November 22, 2013) – The Hawai'i Pacific Men's Basketball Team never trailed in a 71-64 victory over Central Washington (1-2) in the opening game of the PacWest/GNAC Challenge. The Sea Warriors are now 2-0 on the season with two Division II in-region wins.

HPU battled from the opening tip and again took the early lead, which is becoming a trend in the young season. Big man Farbod Farman converted to make it 4-0 1:21 into the contest. CWU tied the game at six, but HPU reclaimed the momentum with a 14-2 run and stormed out to a 20-8 lead with less than 10 minutes to play in the half.

 The Sea Warrior advantage grew to 14 at 26-12 with 8:07 to go in the first half when Darry Jones Jr. got to the basket. Freshman Colfax Nordquist got into the scoring act with a layup to give HPU a 32-18 lead with 4:44 remaining. However, the home team would close the half strong by going on an 11-5 run over the final 3:32 to make the score 39-31 at the half. The halftime count would have been worse if not for a long ball from Justin Long with 18 seconds left.

The opening stages of the second half were evenly played as the teams traded baskets. At the 15:40 mark, Darry Jones Jr. hit a foul shot to match the halftime lead of eight at 45-37. Over the next three minutes, CWU cut the lead to two at 46-44.

Long then came up big again with a three-pointer to regain some cushion. That big shot started a 14-4 run that was capped by Jordan Garrett layin that made it 60-48 with 7:31 to play. The Sea Warriors were not seriously challenged after that.

The Sea Warrior defense was downright stingy, allowing the Wildcats to convert on only two of 18 (11.1%) three-pointers. From the field, HPU held CWU to 24-65 (36.9%).

Long showed why he was highly recruited as he totaled 19 points to go with six rebounds. Farman also had a huge night with 17 points, six rebounds and three rejections. Malte Ziegenhagen also grabbed six rebounds to go with his 11 points. Jones Jr. was the forth Sea Warrior in double-figures with 11 points. Leif Rodney was nearly a fifth as he finished with nine points.

The Sea Warriors will continue the PacWest/GNAC Challenge tomorrow against #9 Seattle Pacific at 2:00 p.m. PST.