Feb. 15, 2005

Final Stats

Johnson City, Tenn. - Western Carolina found itself down 23 with 6:37 left to play in the first half but out-scored East Tennessee 23-8 before the break, then scored the first two points of the second half to only trail by six. However, Ben Rhoda, who scored a career-high 23 points, immediately answered with a basket and would eventually lead his Buccaneers to a 92-83 decision over the Catamounts Monday night in the Memorial Center.

Junior forward Dillion Sneed added a double-double for the Bucs (19 points and 14 rebounds) as East Tennessee State improved to 8-16 overall, 4-10 in Southern Conference play, while Western Carolina dropped to 8-18, 3-10.

Trey Hopkins, who scored a career-high 25 points, tipped in an offensive rebound to cut WCU's deficit to five (56-51) with 15:19 to go. The Bucs, behind seven points from Rhoda, expanded their advantage to 14 (74-60) with 9:59 left to play. ETSU kept a double-digit lead over the next three minutes. Hopkins (nine points) and David Berghoefer (four points) combined to score 13 of WCU's next 14 points as the Cats closed the gap to just four (85-81) with 2:52 remaining in the game.

After a Tim Smith turnover for the Bucs, Western missed two 3-pointers and a jumper on its next three possession. On the other end of the floor, Smith made a runner in the lane and James Anthony made a fast break layup to turn ETSU's four-point lead to eight with 39 ticks on the clock. The Bucs struggled from the line down the stretch, but Rhoda sank two from the line with 13 seconds left to secure the win.

In the first half, Western was down just three (8-5) at the 16:58 mark. However, the Cats missed eight of its next 10 shots from the field to fall behind by 21 (31-10) with 10:39 remaining before the break. Negus McKenna got Western on track with a 3-pointer and Western kept ETSU at bay over the next three minutes before the Cats started their run to end the half.

For Western Carolina, Hopkins drained 7-of-13 from 3-point range in scoring his 25 points, while adding seven assists. Rans Brempong finished with a double-double thanks to 15 points and 11 rebounds. Berghoefer added 14 points.

In addition to Rhoda's 23 points and Sneed's double-double for the Bucs, Smith ended the game with 23, while freshman Andrew Reed matched his career high with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. Rhoda just missed a double-double, grabbing nine rebounds.

The Catamounts will return to Thursday evening as they host Chattanooga in the Ramsey Activity Center at 7:00 pm.