Nov 24, 2001
Final Stats
CONWAY, S.C. Catamount seniors Cory Largent and Casey Rogers each surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for their careers in the first half on Saturday night at Coastal Carolina. However, it was the Chanticleers' Derrick Robinson who stole the headlines with a game-high 24 points to lead Coastal Carolina to a 77-73 victory over Western Carolina at Kimbel Arena.
Western Carolina (1-1) came out in the first half and looked prepared to run away with the contest as Kevin Martin opened the scoring just 18 seconds into play with a thunderous dunk. The Catamounts continued to hold the lead until Coastal's (1-2) Robinson connected on consecutive fast-break lay-ups to give the Chanticleers an 18-17 advantage with 9:20 remaining in the first half. After the two squads traded buckets, Western Carolina went on a 9-0 run to open a 31-22 cushion at the 5:14 mark.
Coastal Carolina responded with a 12-3 run over the next 3:11 to recapture the lead. The run was capped by consecutive treys by Brandon Newby and another by Robinson with 2:03 on the clock to give the Chants a 36-33 advantage. Coastal maintained the three-point advantage to lead 38-35 at the break.
Antonio Darden opened the second half for the Chanticleers with a dunk and short jumper to open a 42-35 lead just 35 seconds into the second frame. Coastal built a 10-point advantage before Western Carolina's Largent outscored Coastal 8-1 over a 1:56 span to close the gap to 48-45 with 14:43 remaining.
Coastal quickly rebuilt a double-digit lead and took its largest lead of 14 points at 68-54 with 5:17 remaining. The Catamounts refused to go away and closed the gap to three points at 73-70 on a lay-in by Kelvin Wylie with 43 seconds remaining. The Chanticleers connected on 6-of-9 free throws in the final 34 seconds to earn their first victory of the season.
Robinson connected on 10-of-14 shot from the field, including 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point arc, in route to his game-high 24 points. Robinson also notched seven rebounds and five assists. Newby added 18 points, while Darden and Alvin Green scored 11 and 10 points respectively. The Chanticleers connected on 53.3 percent from the field for the contest, increasing that percentage to 63.2 percent in the second half.
Martin led Western Carolina with 20 points, while Largent posted 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Largent, now with 1,014 career points, and Rogers, with 1,003, become the 31st and 32nd Catamounts, respectively, to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
Western Carolina will return to the Ramsey Activity Center for a three-game homestand, starting Monday (Nov. 26) versus Toccoa Falls at 7 pm. The Catamounts will host Emmanuel at 7 pm on Wednesday (Nov. 28) before closing the week versus UNC Asheville on Saturday (Dec. 1). The WCU-UNCA contest will be a doubleheader with the women's game starting at 1 pm and the men's set to begin at 3:30 pm.
