Dec. 18, 2005

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina's leading scorer, sophomore Antonio Russell, had a career evening to lead Western Carolina to an 83-57 victory over The Citadel in the teams' Southern Conference opener for the 2005-06 season. Russell scored a career-high 26 points for the Catamounts, making 5-of-9 shots from the field, including a career-best 4-of-4 from 3-point range, and sinking a career-high 12-of-14 from the free throw line.

Three other Catamounts scored in double figures, including Eric Wilson (15), Corey Muirhead (14) and Kyle Greathouse (12), while The Citadel only had one player, Demetrius Nelson with 11 points, in double figures. Russell, Wilson, Muirhead and Greathouse combined to make 18-of-27 shots from the field, including 11-of-14 from 3-point range. The 26-point victory by the Catamounts was the team's largest in league play since defeating The Citadel by 29 (71-42) on Jan. 26, 2004, which was the last time the Bulldogs came to Cullowhee.

Western (7-6, 1-0 SoCon) drained 13 3-pointers in the contest, one shy of a school record 14, which was set earlier this season in a win over UNC Asheville. Greathouse got the Catamounts started from 3-point range, hitting the first shot of the game beyond the arc to give Western a lead (3-0) it would never relinquish.

The Citadel (7-4, 0-1 SoCon) kept the game close through the first nine minutes of the game, trailing by just two (14-12). However, at the 11:04 mark, Wilson, who had seven rebounds and four assists, connected with Muirhead on an alley-oop dunk, sparking a 8-0 WCU run for a 10-point lead. The Bulldogs answered with a Mark Schiavone 3-pointer, only to have the Catamounts go on a 10-3 run to take a 32-18 lead with 4:52 left in the first half. Dante Terry hit a jumper at the 3:35 mark , the Citadel's lone two-point basket in the first 20 mintues, to make it a 12-point game, which is as close as the Bulldogs would get the remainder of the game.

The Catamounts took a 20-point lead, 41-21, into the locker room, out-rebounding the Bulldogs 24-9 and forcing the Citadel into eight turnovers with just two assists. The Bulldogs were held to 28.6 percent shooting, making 6-of-21 field goals overall and 5-of-14 from 3-point range, while Western was 13-of-26 from the field, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range.

The Citadel opened the second half forcing a WCU turnover, which led to a Terry layup to trim its deficit to 18. However, as he did in the first half, Greathouse drained a 3-pointer to get WCU started, pushing the Cats' lead to 21 and Western would keep at least a 21-point cushion the remainder of the contest.

With Western having a commanding lead, the Catamounts worked the shot clock most of the second half, resulting in Russell draining two 3-pointers as the shot clock expired - one at 14:32 and another at 11:58 - essentially sealing the game.

For the game, Western out-rebounded the Bulldogs 37-21 and had 14 assists on 23 made baskets. Western also took the advantage at the free throw line, making 24-of-34, compared to just 15-of-28 for the Bulldogs.

In addition to Wilson having seven rebounds and four assists, senior Jared Outing duplicated those numbers. Wilson was 5-of-6 from the field in scoring his 15 points, his best point production versus a league opponent. For the Bulldogs, Nelson was 3-of-6 from the field and 5-of-9 from the free throw line in scoring his 11 points. He and J'Mel Everhart led The Citadel, each with four rebounds.

Western Carolina will play one more contest before Christmas, hosting Gardner-Webb on Thursday (Dec. 22) at 7:00 pm.