Jan 27, 2003

Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. - WCU junior Rans Brempong drilled a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to give Western Carolina a come-from-behind 63-62 victory over UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference men's basketball action from Fleming Gym Monday night.

James Maye appeared to give the Spartans the lead for good, 52-51, knocking down a pair of free-throws with just 2.6 seconds left in regulation. After the Catamounts called a timeout, Emre Atsur threw the inbounds pass to Brempong around the WCU free throw line. The Thornhill, Ontario, native, who connected on a free-throw with just 0.4 seconds left to beat Appalachian State last Tuesday, grabbed the pass and buried the game winner.

Brempong finshed with 10 points and two blocked shots to move into a tie for fourth on the SoCon career list, now with 202. Alex Osipovitch hit a pair of 3-pointers to led Western Carolina with 14 points, which was his best performance in a SoCon game. Kevin Martin, Kori Hatcher and Emre each registered eight points, while Terrence Woodyard added six. Atsur also had four rebounds, three steals and four assists with just one turnover. James Johnson added five assist against just one turnover, while Hatcher took sole possession of 10th place on the WCU all-time assist list, now with 317.

Maye poured in a game-high 22 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Jay Joseph added 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Ray Bristow scored eight points and tied his career-high with 10 assists.

After a sluggish first-half, the Spartans opened the second-half with five straight points to take an 11-point lead, 31-20, but the Catamounts responded with a 14-3 run to get even, 34-34, with 12:18 left in regulation. The two teams would go back and forth as the game featured eight ties and six lead changes in the final 12-minutes.

Brempong and Atsur would team up to score all 11 of Western's final points inside the final three minutes. Brempong hit a jumper with 2:51 left to tie the game at 54 then hit pair of free throws with 2:12 left to knot the game at 56, Atsur converted an old-fashion 3-point play to give Western a one-point lead, 59-58, with 1:52 left. He then gave Western Carolina the lead again, 61-60, with just 12 seconds left. Maye would drive to the bucket as the clock ran down, before drawing the foul with just 2.6 seconds left and knocking both free-throws down. However, Brempong gave the Cats their first road win of the season with the jumper to seal the outcome.

Western Carolina shot 45.5% (25-for-55) from the field, while the Spartans were also 45.5% (25-for-55) from the floor. The Catamounts won the battle of the boards, 31-29.

UNCG and WCU both opened the game quite sluggish. The Spartans hit just six of its first 16 shots, while the Catamounts connected on four of its first 16. Western Carolina and UNCG also combined for 13 turnovers in the opening 12 minutes, but the Spartans got things going midway through the first-half thanks in part to Maye.

The senior scored 12 points in the opening half on 6-for-12 from the floor. Maye helped the Spartans grab an eleven-point lead, 25-14, with 1:34 remaining in the first-half, but Martin, who did not attempt a shot in the game's first 17-minutes, scored four straight and Brempong knocked down a jumper just before halftime to cut the deficit to just five-points, 25-20, at halftime.

Western Carolina finished the opening half shooting 34.6% (9-for-26), while UNCG shot 41.4% (12-for-29). The Catamounts ended up with 13 first-half turnovers and the Spartans committed seven. The first half also moved quickly as just seven fouls were called and neither team attempted a free throw.

Western Carolina also gets back into action on Saturday with a home tilt against Davidson at 7:00 pm.