Jan. 27, 2001

Box Score

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina shot a season-high 56 percent from the floor, including a blistering 71 percent from behind the 3-point arc, to race out to an 82-62 victory over Virginia Military Institute Saturday night in front of nearly 2,000 in the Ramsey Center.

The win was the second-straight for the Catamounts (4-17, 2-6 in the Southern Conference). It additionally marked the second consecutive win of 20 or more points, defeating Georgia Southern, 88-65, on Monday (Jan. 22), the second consecutive game WCU shot over 50 percent from the field and the second consecutive game the Cats out-rebounded their opponents, gaining a 39-30 edge on the boards. VMI falls to 5-13 overall, 2-6 in the SoCon.

Junior Cory Largent led the attack for the Catamounts posting his second-straight double-double performance. Largent finished with 22 points and 10 boards on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Joining Largent in double figures for WCU were junior Willie Freeman with 15, shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line, and senior Ricky Gandy with 13. Gandy, who was 5-of-8 from the field, tied a career high with eight rebounds, while Freeman pulled down seven boards and recorded a pair of steals.

Junior Casey Rogers and sophomore Kori Hatcher each scored nine points, with Emre Atsur scoring eight points off the bench. Rogers also added seven boards and dished out five assists.

WCU shot lights out in the first half, connecting on 54 percent (15-of-28) of their shots from the field. However the first 20 minutes was a seesaw battle. The Keydets drained a pair of 3-pointers midway through the first half to take a seven-point lead, 29-22. WCU answered with a 13-0 run to take a 33-29 lead. The Catamounts only scored five points the rest of the half (4:23), but managed a 38-33 advantage at the break.

VMI would use pressure defense in the second half to force costly turnovers early and WCU had three key players (Hatcher, Gandy and Rans Brempong) in foul trouble. With that, the Keydets tied the game, 47-47, with 14:22 left. However, once Western Carolina solved the press, its hot shooting continued in the second stanza to build an 11-point lead, 63-52, at the 7:21 mark. VMI battled back and only trailed by nine, 69-60, with 4:04 left. At that point, Largent made a conventional 3-point play and WCU out-scored the Keydets 11-4 down the stretch to preserve the win. Western Carolina made 14-of-24 shots from the floor (58 percent) in the final 20 minutes, including a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range.

WCU's defense allowed the Keydets to shoot 45.2 percent from the floor in the first half, but held VMI to a mere 28.6 in the second. The Catamounts entered the game as the SoCon's lead in field goal percentage defense, holding its seven previous league opponents to just 38.6 percent shooting from the floor overall and 22.9 from 3-point range. WCU will add to its league-leading 3-point field goal percentage of 37.5 with its 5-of-7 performance tonight.

The Keydets were led by Jeremy Harper's 13 point, 5-of-9 shooting performance and a double-double by Eric Mann. Mann tallied 11 points and 11 boards and swiped three steals in the loss.