Nov. 16, 2004

Final Stats

Milwaukke, Wis. - Western Carolina came back from 14 points down to tie the game at halftime, but a second-half Catamount (0-3) comeback fell short as Jacksonville State (1-2) held on for a 90-74 victory at the 2004 Black Coaches Association Classic, played at the Bradley Center.

The Catamounts trailed by 16 with 3:41 left to play, but cut their deficit to 10 thanks to a David Berghoefer free throw, a jumper by Corey Muirhead and a Trey Hopkins 3-pointer. The Gamecocks pushed their advantage back up to three (84-71). With 2:15 left, Antonio Russell sank a 3-pointer to make it a 10-point game once again, but that is as close as WCU would get as JSU sank their free throws down the stretch for the 16-point win.

In the first half, Jacksonville State raced out to a 21-7 advantage with 13:15 left in the opening 20 minutes. Rans Brempong, who had 12 first-half points, started a 22-9 run, cutting the Catamount deficit to one (30-29) with 6:29 left before the break. During the run, Western only allowed the Gamecocks to score two points over a three minute span from 8:46 until 5:40.

The game remained tight with the Cats tying the game and taking a one-point lead (33-32) on two free throws by Berghoefer with 4:30 left. Jacksonville State responded with seven straight points to go up six (39-33) with 3:01 left. Western ended the half by out-scoring JSU 9-3 to make the score tied at 42 at intermission.

No team led by more than five points over the first nine and a half minutes of the second half. With 11:05 left in the game, the Gamecocks 7-1 run to go up 11 (67-56). However, Western was able to kept the game close as Corey Muirhead sank a jumper with 9:05 left to make the score 68-60. After that, Jacksonville State went on a 13-5 run to take that 16-point (81-65) lead with 3:41 left.

Guard Walker Russell, who had eight assists, led Jacksonville State with 30 points. He was the only Gamecock in double figures, making 11-of-15 shots, mostly off penetrating baskets around the basket. Jeremy Law contributed nine points and eight rebounds.

For the Catamounts, Brempong led the way with 15 points and seven rebounds. The senior also had three blocked shots, giving him 2332 for his career and just seven shy of moving to second on the Southern Conference all-time list. Berghoefer added 13 points and nine boards, while Muirhead finished with 14 points and six rebounds. Russell came off the bench to score 10 for WCU. Kyle Greathouse ended with a career-high six rebounds.

Western Carolina will return to action Friday (Nov. 19) at Alabama. Tip-off is set for 5:30 pm (CT).