TULSA, OKLA. -- Central Washington overcame an 18-point, first half deficit to register to an 87-76 win against NO. 12-seed Azusa Pacific in the second round of the NAIA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament in the Mabee Center on the campus of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.

The victory puts Central Washington into Friday's quarterfinals against Cumberland College.  It also marked the second straight tournament upset fo teh Wildcats, who downed No. 5 Incarnate Word, 61-58, Wednesday.

"This is a scrappy and overachieving team," said Central Washington Head Coach Greg Sparling.  "It has been all year.  We have battled back in a lot of games this season.  We talked about it all week.  If you look at our draw anything can happen."

Appearing in their record-setting 26th NAIA Tournament, Central Washington moves to 18-12 overall.  The Wildcats also posted their 44th tournament win, the most in NAIA Tournament history.  CWU is advancing to the NAIA quarterfinals for the first time since 1990.

Azusa Pacific opened the game on a 20-6 run and stretched the margin to 36-18 with 3:55 remaining in the first half.  Central Washington chipped away at the Cougar lead, and finished the half on a 14-6 run to pull within 42-32 at halftime.

Azusa Pacific pushed its lead to 53-39 less than 4 minutes into the second half.  CWU used a 12-2 run, aided by 5 points from senior forward Willie Thomas, to take the lead for good at 75-70 with 3:43 remaining.

After sophomore Jason Boswell drilled a 3-pointer to bring Azusa Pacific with 2 at 75-73, Central Washington took control by scoring the next 7 points for an 82-73 advantage with 68 seconds left on the clock.

In the final 20 minutes, CWU shot 65.5 percent, connecting on 19-of-29 attempts.  For the game, the Wildcats made 30-of-56 shots from the field for 53.6 percent.

Senior guard Todd Nealey led 5 players scoring in double figures for Central Washington with 21 points.  He also dished out a team-high 7 assists.  Thomas added 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.  Junior guard Eric Davis also had 17 points in a reserve role for the Wildcats.  Junior forward Grady Fallon scored 11 points while sophomore forward Tyce Nasinec contributed 10 points.

Azusa Pacific finishes its season at 28-8.  The Cougars were led by freshman  enter Bryan Lucas with 13 points.  Junior forward Micah Sullivan added 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, while junior Ty Clark came off the bench to post 10 points.