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Rans Brempong Sets SoCon Record, But WCU Falls to Georgia Southern, 85-76

Box Score

Jan. 3, 2005

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - WCU senior Rans Brempong, who had 11 points and nine rebounds, tallied six blocked shots Monday night to give him 270 for his career and become the Southern Conference all-time leader in the category. However, it was not enough as the Catamounts fell 85-76 to Georgia Southern at the Ramsey Activity Center. The Eagles improve to 6-6 on the season and 1-1 in the SoCon, while Western falls to 5-10, 0-2.

For the Eagles, who forced 28 WCU turnovers, Elton Nesbitt drained 4-of-9 from 3-point range to lead the way with 23 points.

Already Western Carolina's career leader in rejections since his sophomore year, Brempong only needed 101 career games to surpass former record holder George Singleton (Furman), who had 269 career blocked shots in 106 career games.

Brempong and sophomore Kyle Greathouse, who turned in a career high with 24 points, helped Western jump out to an early 10-point lead (18-8) seven minutes into the first half. However, Greathouse picked up two early fouls and went to the bench. Georgia Southern's full court press eventually took a toll on the Cats, allowing the Eagles to erase the deficit, tying the game at 21-21 with 10:20 left before the break. The teams virtually traded baskets the remainder of the half to go into the locker room with the game tied at 36-36.

As the second half began, Georgia Southern's press forced seven early turnovers. Up two with 15:18 to go, the Eagles got four points each from Nesbitt and Terry Williams to race out to a 13-point lead (61-48) over the next three minutes. A Greathouse 3-pointer at the 11:24 mark trimmed the WCU deficit to nine, but GSU's Courtney Joseph immediately answered with two free throws and the Eagles kept a double-digit lead over the next five minutes.

With 4:57 remaining, David Berghoefer made a layup to make it a nine-point game (77-68). After a GSU turnover, Western went back to Berghoefer. He was fouled, only made 1-of-2 at the line and grabbed his own rebound, setting up a Greathouse jumper to make the score 77-71 at the 3:46 mark.

The Catamounts were able to trim its deficit to five twice inside the final three minutes. While Georgia Southern only went 4-of-6 from the line over the last 1:17, the Eagles' Jean Francois grabbed a key defensive board and Willie Dunn had a rebound on the offensive end to seal the game.

Kyle Greathouse, who sank 6-of-8 from 3-point range, scored a career-high 24 points versus Georgia Southern.


In addition to Nesbitt's 23 points, he had three assists, three rebounds and two steals. Francois just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Williams contributed 16 points, while Donte Gennie came off the bench to score 12 points.

The Catamounts, who out-rebounded the Eagles 50-41, had three players nearly pull down double digits in rebounds. In addition to Brempong's nine boards, Berghoefer had nine rebounds, while Terrence Woodyard had eight. Greathouse sank 7-of-10 from the field overall, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, to his career-high 24 points. Berghoefer added 13 points and Woodyard scored 10.

Western Carolina, who has already tallied 7,800 miles on the road this season, will return to the road to face Chattanooga on Saturday (Jan. 8).

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