March 1, 2001

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Cory Largent scored 23 points and Western Carolina, which had the Southern Conference's worst record this season, defeated The Citadel 67-57 in the league tournament Thursday.

The Catamounts (5-26) were expected to be the tournament's easiest out. Instead they take on third-seeded North Carolina Greensboro in Friday's quarterfinals.

The Citadel (16-12) had been one of the league's best stories with its most victories since 1989. And the Bulldogs nearly wiped out Western's 19-point second half lead to trail 56-54 with 2:38 to go.

But Willie Freeman made an inside basket and the Catamounts made six straight free throws to advance.

Largent's play helped Western open to a 13-0 lead and lead 39-20 midway through the second half.

He had eight points during The Citadel's comeback, just enough to keep the the Catamounts on top.

The Citadel suffered through its worst shooting performance of the season, going 20 for 70 (28.6 percent).

Travis Cantrell was the Bulldogs leading scorer, but went 6-of-21 for his 20 points.

Cantrell finally got hot during the rally, hitting four straight threes. His last made it 56-54. The Bulldogs had several chances to tie, but Cliff Washburn missed an inside shot and teammates Romas Krywonis and Michael Joseph could not convert tip ins.

Ricky Gandy had 12 points for Western, while Freeman and Kori Hatcher had 11 each.

Western Carolina hit six of its first nine shots and led 13-0. The Bulldogs started 0-for-7 and didn't score until Joseph's inside shot with 13:44 left in the half.

The Catamounts' kept the pressure on with their three-point shooting, hitting 5 of 7 in the first half to lead 32-17 at the break.