The WSU men’s basketball team played a nail-biter Sunday night, in which they came out victorious against in-state rival Washington Huskies by a score of 79-71 in Beasley Coliseum.

Not only was it a heated rivalry game, but it was also senior night and all of the WSU seniors made the most of their last time playing in Beasley Coliseum. All four of the seniors ended the night scoring in double figures, including 22 from senior forward Josh Hawkinson.

The Huskies were shorthanded without their star freshman guard Markelle Fultz who has been battling a knee injury, so freshman guard Carlos Johnson who got the start instead tried to fill the void by tallying 17 points.

The Cougars had a problem boxing out Washington, and they capitalized by ending the contest with 20 second-chance points.

Despite the problem on the boards, senior guard Charles Callison and redshirt senior center Conor Clifford were hot early, combining for 21 of the Cougars’ 31 first-half points.

The other pair of seniors shone in the second half, with Hawkinson and senior guard Ike Iroegbu combining for 31 points on 11 of 12 shooting. The two also put together some clutch baskets late in the game.

The Huskies would keep the game close as they found a second-half spark off the bench from senior center Malik Dime who threw down two powerful dunks to give the Huskies a six-point lead with about nine minutes to go in the game.

The Cougars then responded with a pair of tough layups by Iroegbu, one of them being an and-one, to get back within striking distance.

With about 2:40 left in regulation, WSU led a game that kept going back and forth. With the score at 66-64, Hawkinson hit a big-time 3-pointer that ignited the crowd. The next possession down off a missed shot, Hawkinson grabbed an offensive rebound and laid the ball in to extend the lead to 71-64.

The Huskies then scored two baskets to make it a one-possession game with 40 seconds left, when freshman guard Malachi Flynn hit a 3-pointer to put down the dagger and seal the Cougar victory.

“I cannot say enough about these seniors,” Head Coach Ernie Kent said. “This program has been built on the back of them.”