Jan. 26, 2004

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - All-American candidate Kevin Martin, the nation's leading scorer now with a 27.5 season average, scored 25 points, while senior Emre Atsur added 17, to lead Western Carolina (10-8, 4-4 SoCon) to a 71-42 victory over The Citadel (4-14, 0-7) Monday night at the Ramsey Activity Center.

The 29-point win by the Catamounts was their largest ever versus a SoCon opponent, bettering the previous best of 24 points in an 86-62 win over Chattanooga on Feb. 19, 1994. The 42 points by The Citadel was fewest the Catamounts had allowed since Jan. 19, 1983 when Western defeated Milligan 78-42.

Martin, who moved to seventh on the WCU all-time scoring list now with 1,632 career points, scored his 25 points tonight in just 27 minutes of play, making 9-of-12 shots from the field, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, while sinking 5-of-8 free throws. Atsur had a near perfect night shooting in scoring his season-high of 17 points. The Istanbul, Turkey, native was 6-of-6 from the field, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range, and 1-of-2 at the line.

Western jumped out to a 7-0 to start the game and The Citadel never got any closer. However, after Western built its largest lead of the half at 15 points (27-12) with 5:28 left, the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to trim their deficit to nine (27-18) after a Max Mombollet layup. Martin answered with a short jumper with 1:37 left and the Cats would enjoy a double digit cushion the remainder of the contest. Jared Outing would score the half's final basket 30 seconds later as Western took a 31-18 lead at intermission.

In the second half, a 3-pointer by Atsur at the 14:07 mark put the Catamounts up 22 (46-24) and Western was able to keep at least a 20-point lead the rest of the way.

For the game, Western shot 54.2 percent from the field and, thanks to Atsur's performance, a season-best 60 percent from 3-point range (6-of-10).

In addition to Martin and Atsur, the Cats were led by sophomore guard James Johnson and sophomore forward Corey Muirhead. Johnson came off the bench to hand out a career-high nine assists with four points and four rebounds. Muirhead, who only had seven rebounds in his last four games combined, pulled down seven on the defensive end alone and finished with a total of eight. Outing also provided a spark off the bench for the Cats, getting four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

For the Bulldogs, J'mel Everhart and Mombollet each had 10 points to lead the way. Mombollet, who was 5-of-9 from the field, added eight rebounds, while Everhart collected six. Kevin Hammack contributed seven points with three assists and five steals.

Western Carolina will return to action Saturday (Jan. 31), hosting SoCon leader East Tennessee State. Tip-off is set for 7 pm. That day is national Take a Kid to the Game Day. For both the WCU women's and men's games, all kids 17 and under will be admitted for free. The Lady Cats will host the College of Charleston on Saturday at 4 pm.