Feb. 23, 2004

Final Stats

Greensboro, N.C. - WCU sophomore Corey Muirhead scored a season-high 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds, but UNC Greensboro's Ronnie Burrell poured in a game-high 26 points as the Spartans used an early second-half run to defeat the Catamounts, 78-65, Monday night in Fleming Gym.

With the win, UNCG improves to 10-15 on the season and 7-8 in Southern Conference, while Western Carolina drops to 12-14, 5-10.

In the first half of the game, Western Carolina's Kevin Martin moved into fourth place on the Catamount all-time scoring list, now with 1,798 career points, passing Greg Dennis and becoming the school's leading scorer since Western became an NCAA Division I school for the 1976-77 season.

Burrell and Josh Gross propelled the Spartans to a 15-9 advantage during the early stages of the contest with two thunderous dunks. Western Carolina cut the lead to three, 16-13, on a Martin 3-pointer, but the Spartans went on a 9-3 run to push the advantage back to seven, 25-18. Muirhead connected on an offensive put-back with three seconds left on the clock in the half, but the Spartans still held the lead, 34-31, heading into the break.

Seconds into the second half Sean McCarthy threw down an alley-oop dunk from a Ronnie Taylor pass to ignite an 8-0 Spartan run, electrifying the crowd. UNCG would then extend their lead to 13, 46-33, on a Burrell layup. The Spartan lead would only swell from that point, growing to 24 on two Gross free throws with just under nine minutes remaining in the game. The Catamounts attempted to creep back into the contest, cutting the Spartan advantage to 17, 72-55, but UNCG thwarted the Western Carolina rally and cruised to the victory.

UNCG senior guard Jay Joseph also had a mileston in the game, becoming UNCG all-time leading scorer, passing last year's Spartan senior James Maye (1,574 points from 1998-03). Joesph now has 1,585 career points.

Burrell's 26 points was his sixth 20-point scoring effort of the season. Joseph went 7-of-10 from the floor for 20 points on the record setting night. As a team, UNCG shot a season-high 61.0% (25-of-41) from the field.

Muirhead's 17 points came on 7-of-15 shooting. Martin finished with 13 points, while Kyle Greathouse had 10 points.

Western Carolina will close out the season on Saturday (Feb. 28) at home against Appalachian State. The game, which will also be the third annual "Beach Night at the RAC" will be a true doubleheader with the Mountaineers. The women's game will start at 4 pm, with the men's game set to begin at 7 pm.