March 2, 2005

Final Stats

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Western Carolina senior Rans Brempong had a double-double and four blocked shots, but it was not enough as the Catamounts (8-22) fell to Georgia Southern (18-12) 69-57 in the first round of the 2005 Kyocera Southern Conference Championship, played at McKenzie Arena.

Brempong scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while finishing with four assists and four steals to go along with his four blocked shots. The Thornhill, Ontario, native ends his career with 308 career rejections and the SoCon's all-time leader in the category.

The Eagles, who forced 22 WCU turnovers, were led by Elton Nesbitt's 14 points, while Jean Francois and Louis Graham contributed 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The teams were even in rebounds (42 each) and even in points in the second half (34 each). However, in addition to forcing 22 turnovers, the Eagles held WCU to 32.3 percent shooting, while making 37.5 percent of their shots.

Western Carolina jumped out to an early five-point lead and trailed by just one (17-16) after a David Berghoefer layup with 12:05 left in the first half. However, the Cats would not score over the four minutes and the Eagles would extend their advantage to nine (25-16). With just over a minute to go before the break, senior Lunzaya Nlandu made a reverse layup, making it an eight-point game (31-23). Francois answered with a layup and Nesbitt hit two free throws to give Georgia Southern a 12-point cushion at intermission, a lead which would hold up over the final 20 minutes.

In the second half, Western scored three quick baskets, an Antonio Russell 3-pointer and jumpers by Brempong and Negus McKenna, to trim its deficit to seven. However, the Cats would hit another scoring draught over the next six minutes, allowing the Eagles to take a 15-point advantage. Georgia Southern would push its advantage to as many as 17 before WCU senior Terrence Woodyard drained two free throws to make the score 53-42 with 5:20 left.

The Cats, down 13 with just under five to go, missed a 3-pointer and All-SoCon guard Terry Williams was fould while shooting a 3-pointer in the ensuing possession. Williams made all three from the charity stripe and the six-point swing was too much for Western to overcome in the GSU 12-point win.

In addition to Brempong's 13 points, Trey Hopkins made 8-of-9 from the free throw line to score 11 points. Berghoefer added seven rebounds and McKenna pulled down seven boards as well, bettering his previous rebound output by one which he established in his previous game. Nlandu was a perfect 2-of-2 from the floor in scoring four points in his final game as a Catamount. Woodyard came off the bench to score seven points with three rebounds in his final collegiate competition.