Jan. 14, 2002

Final Stats

Boone, N.C. - Catamount freshman Kevin Martin exploded for 16 second-half points to lead Western Carolina to a 79-71 win versus Southern Conference rival Appalachian State Monday night at the Holmes Convocation Center.

The win snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Catamounts versus the Mountaineers and was WCU's first win in Boone since January of 1996.

Martin led all scorers with 22 points, hitting 7-of-12 from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point land. The Zanesville, Ohio, native additionally drained all six free throw attempts to tie a WCU record with 38 consecutive makes at the charity stripe - a mark set by Clifford Waddy during the 1985-86 season. Martin has made all 38 attempts since league play began and is shooting a league-best 91.8 (78-of-85) for the season.

In addition to Martin, the Catamounts were paced by its four seniors. Cory Largent scored 11 points and tied his season best with eight rebounds. Willie Freeman went 8-of-8 from the line en route to 12 points, adding three assists and five rebounds. Kelvin Wylie, who had three blocked shots, nearly registered his second consecutive double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds. While Casey Rogers only scored one point, he did have seven assists and joined longtime teammate Largent in getting his season high in rebounds with six. WCU sophomore Rans Brempong turned away four Mountaineer shots, while going 3-of-4 from both the field and free throw line to score nine points.

Western Carolina (9-7, 3-2 SoCon) scored on a Freeman layup 12 seconds into the game kept the lead the rest of the night. After a ASU free throw by Josh Shehan, the Catamounts reeled off the next nine points, capped by an Emre Atsur 3-pointer, to take an 11-1 lead five minutes into the contest. The Mountaineers would trim the lead to three (17-14), before Western went on a 10-0 run to take a 13-point lead (27-14) five minutes before the break. A layup by Donald Payne with 40 seconds in the first half and a tip-in at the buzzer by Buddy Davis made the score 36-31 in Western's favor at halftime.

Appalachian State (5-10, 1-4 SoCon) was unable to keep the momentum to start the second half. WCU started the second period making 5-of-6 free throws and Brempong hit a short jumper to open an 11-point edge (44-33). The Mountaineers whittled the Catamount lead to two (52-50) with 7:51 left to play on a Jonathan Butler trey. Western answered with a 15-6, including Martin's only 3-pointers of the night and five points by Kori Hatcher.

The Catamounts, who were 21-of-24 at the line on the night, made 5-of-7 free throws inside the final minute to preserve the victory. In addition to its fine performance at the line, Western shot 50.9 percent from the field. It is the second consecutive game the league's top shooting team has shot at least 50 percent from the field and the seventh time this season.

Western Carolina will return to the Ramsey Center to play one of its five remaining homes game in 2001-02, hosting defending SoCon Tournament Champion UNC Greensboro. Game time is set for 7 pm. Prior to the contest, the WCU women will host Appalachian State at 2 pm.