Dec. 22, 2005

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Gardner-Webb's Simon Conn got an offensive rebound and a put back with 5.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 81-81. Both teams would have chances late to end the contest, but a foul on Western Carolina and a missed shot at the buzzer by Gardner-Webb forced overtime. From that point, the Gardner-Webb out-scored the Catamounts 9-2 to claim a 90-83 victory Thursday night at the Ramsey Activity Center.

With the Bulldogs leading by one, Western's Antonio Russell drained a jumper in the lane to put the Catamounts up one (80-79) with 58 seconds left. After a Gardner-Webb missed shot, WCU junior Kyle Greathouse was fouled with 18.6 seconds left. He hit 1-of-2 free throws, putting his team up two. The Bulldogs' T.J. McCullough missed the potential game-tying basket, but Conn was there to get the rebound and knot the game.

With 5.7 on the clock, Western tried to go the length on the court, but Corey Muirhead was whistled for an offensive foul at the Catamount's free throw line, giving the Bulldogs one final chance to win the game with 1.6 seconds left. Conn caught a three-quarter court pass on the GWU foul line, turned and fired, but the ball bounced off the rim as time expired.

In overtime, neither team scored over the first 1:30. McCullough got GWU on the board first, hitting a free throw. Conn then connected for two free throws a minute later, giving the Bullogs a three-point lead (84-81). Russell answered with a runner in the lane, cutting the Catamount deficit to one with 2:04 left. However, the Cats would miss their final four shots, while Gardner-Webb's Brian Bender made a jumper with 39 seconds left and sank two free throws with 19 seconds left to seal the game. Tim Jennings hit two at the charity stripe with 9.8 seconds left to provide the final margin.

The game started with Bender making the first basket of the contest. Western immediately answered with a David Berghoefer layup. Berghoefer would score 12 of Western's first 19 points and the Cats raced out to a 12-point lead. Later, Berghoefer would sink two free throw and Western took its largest lead of the game, 15 points (26-11) with 8:01 left before the break. From that point, Gardner-Webb started chipping away at the lead, eventually trailing by just four (33-29) on a Ricky McPhee 3-pointer with 2:44 remaining before halftime. Western would recover with back-to-back baskets, only to have McCullough hit a layup to provide the 37-31 halftime score.

To start the second half, Gardner-Webb built on its momentum, scoring eight straight points to take a 39-37 lead. After a Catamount timeout, Western responded with a 13-4 run, thanks to six points from Russell, to go up seven. With 12:28 left in regulation, the Bulldogs' Chris Gash hit a pair of free throws, putting Gardner-Webb back on top by one. The lead see-sawed back-and-forth eight minutes until McPhee hit a 3-pointer to put GWU up six. A few minutes later (3:40), Bender hit two free throws for another GWU six-point cushion (75-69). However, Western started a 7-1 run on a Jared Outing layup, tying the game at 76-76 with 2:26 remaining. Western did suffer one setback during its run as Berghoefer picked up his fifth foul of the evening, missing the final 3:14 in regulation and overtime.

Jennings put the Bulldogs back on top with a 3-pointer and Outing answered with a layup to make it a one-point game and set up the final flurry over the last minute of regulation.

After shooting just 35.7 percent from the field in the first half, Gardner-Webb shot at a 55.9 percent clip in the second, while holding Western , one of the Southern Conference's best 3-point shooting teams, to just 31.6 percent shooting beyond the arc.

Conn finished the game with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Bender had 17 points and seven boards. McPhee, who was 6-of-10 from 3-point range, led Gardner-Webb with 18 points. McCullough added 12 points and eight assists and Jennings rounded out the five starters in double figures with 16.

For the Catamounts, Berghoefer scored a season-high 28 points, one point shy of a career best and two points shy of scoring his 1,000th career point. He was 10-of-14 from the field and 8-of-9 at the line, adding eight rebounds. Russell, who only had six points at halftime, picked up Berghoefer's slack after fouling out, scoring 14 points after the break. Muirhead, a native of Canada and playing in front of his family for the first time in his career, registered his third career double-double (and second of the season) with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Eric Wilson contributed 10 points.

Western Carolina will not play again until Dec. 31, facing the Georgia Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 4 pm and the game will be televised on CSS TV. The Cats will then stay on the road to face another Southeastern Conference foe, playing at Mississippi on Jan. 3 at 7 pm (CT), which is 8 pm (ET).