Jan. 22, 2001

Box Score

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina shot 54.2 percent from the field and used a 51-40 rebound advantage to upend Georgia Southern, 88-65, Monday night at the Ramsey Center.

Led by the first career double-double performances of Cory Largent and Rans Brempong, WCU (3-17, 1-6) picked up conference win number one for first-year head coach Steve Shurina and ended an 11-game losing skid, while Georgia Southern fell to 7-11, 3-4 in Southern Conference play.

Largent, a junior from Morganton, N.C., scored 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds, all on the defensive end. Brempong, a freshman from Thornhill, Ontario, scored 11 points and had 13 rebounds, while recording six blocked shots. The 6-8 center now has 61 blocked shots for the season, setting a Western Carolina single-season record. (The previous best was 60, held by Kirby Thurston in 1974-75.) Brempong entered the game as the Southern Conference's top shot blocker, with an average of 2.89 blocks per game overall and 3.0 blocks in league games.

Western Carolina placed three others in double-digits, including Kori Hatcher, who scored a career-high 16 points, Ricky Gandy (14 points) and Willie Freeman (10 points). Junior Casey Rogers added nine points, seven assists and seven defensive rebounds in the winning effort.

The Catamounts dominated from the opening tip, jumping out to an early 16-5 advantage. WCU, who shot an impressive 59.4 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, would end the first half on a 17-8 run and take a 44-26 lead at the break. The 44 points was the most the Catamounts had scored in the first half this season and the 18-point deficit was the Eagles' largest at the break in 2000-01.

Georgia Southern played inspired to start the second half, trimming the lead to 10, 51-41, at the 14:30 mark. The game remained in question with 7:10 left with the Cats leading 59-47. However, Western Carolina used a 27-9 run to take its largest lead at 30, 86-56, and seal the Eagles' fate.

Western Carolina's 23-point victory was its largest since defeating Chattanooga, 87-60, on Jan. 25, 1997. The win additionally gives the Catamounts a 9-8 advantage in the all-time series against the Eagles and improves their record to 6-1 versus GSU in games played in the Ramsey Center, including six straight wins.

Entering the game as the SoCon's top 3-point shooting team, Western Carolina only shot 29.4 percent (5-of-17) beyond the arc, but shot 54.2 percent overall, its highest overall field goal percentage of the season. Defensively, the Catamounts held Georgia Southern to 27.6 percent shooting from the field and 18.8 percent from 3-point range. It marked the fourth time in the last five games, WCU held its opponent to below 19 percent shooting from 3-point range. (WCU held The Citadel to 14.3 percent, East Tennessee State to 15.0 percent and Appalachian State to 18.8 percent. The only team to shoot higher in the span was College of Charleston's 27.3 percent.)

Georgia Southern was led by sophomore Julius Jenkins with 14 points, four assists, and four steals. Two other Eagles posted double figures with Frank Bennett and Todd Shipley finishing with 13 and 10, respectively.