Jan. 9, 2005

Final Stats

Chattanooga, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team used a 19-0 first-half run to run away from Western Carolina Saturday and post an 81-61 Southern Conference victory.

After early baskets by Rans Brempong and a David Berghoefer layup gave Western Carolina an 8-6 lead, the Mocs, now 9-3 overall and 2-0 in the SoCon, scored 19 straight points to jump out to a 25-8 lead. Casey Long's three-pointer at 11:18 of the first half capped the blitz. Kyle Greathouse made back-to-back threes to halt the streak and trim the margin to 25-14, and that is as close as the Catamounts, who fall to 5-11 and 0-3, would get the rest of the night.

Long's second triple of the game, at 3:20 of the first half, pushed UTC's lead to 20 points, 43-23. Things went so well for the Mocs in the first period that Mindaugas Katelynas, who was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor in the half, snatched a short Chris Brown three-point attempt out of the air and dunked it just before the halftime horn blew. His play gave the Mocs their 51-28 halftime advantage.

UTC's shooting cooled off in the second half and WCU's improved. Still, the Cats could only manage to whittle the deficit to 18 points a few times. The last time came on a Rans Brempong layup which made the score 58-40 at the 12:16 mark.

The Mocs, who shot 61.8 percent in the first half and 55.6 percent for the game, scored 18 of the next 26 points in the game as the lead stretched to 76-48 with 6:15 remaining.

Katelynas led UTC with 17 points. Charles Anderson registered 12 points and a game-high seven rebounds, and Matt Malone tied his season high with 10 points. Steve Cherry added nine points and a career-best seven assists with six rebounds.

Greathouse was 4-for-10 from three-point range for WCU and finished with a team-best 14 points. Antonio Russell was the only other Cat in double digits with 10 points. Brempong finished with seven points, six boards and two blocks. WCU forced 21 UTC turnovers and shot 36.7 percent for the game.

The Catamounts host East Tennessee State Monday at 7 p.m.