Dec. 9, 2006

Final Stats

Boiling Springs, N.C. - Gardner-Webb, who defeated Western Carolina in overtime last season, made eight 3-pointers after halftime, including one in the extra period, as the Bulldogs erased a 17-point, halftime deficit and handed Western Carolina a 74-73 overtime setback Saturday night at Paul Porter Arena. The Bulldogs (2-6) also held the Catamounts (4-3) to just two field goals over the final 11 minutes of the second half. WCU, led by a career-high 30-points from Antonio Russell, did make 8-of-12 free throws over the final 11 minutes of regulation. However, with the Cats up two, a costly miss at the charity stripe with 35 seconds left in regulation made it possible for Chris Gash's 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to force overtime as Western missed a jumper at the buzzer.

In overtime, Gardner-Webb got a jumper from Samba Fall and a 3-pointer by Takayo Siddle to jump out to an early five-point cushion. The five-point lead was GWU's first since leading 6-4 at the 16:01 mark of the first half. Western kept the Bulldogs from scoring over the final 3:43 over overtime, but were unable to overcome the deficit. Russell made two free throws at the 2:29 mark of overtime to make it a three-point game. He then made a jumper and was fouled to bring WCU to within one. However, the ensuing free throw was missed. The Bulldogs had two more chances to extend their lead but could not. Also, Western had two chances to win the game, but a turnover and a missed jumper at the buzzer allowed Gardner-Webb to escape with the win.

The game started with Western Carolina showing the rust of not playing in seven days, a loss at #24 Xavier. Gardner-Webb jumped out to a 6-2 lead. However, Nick Aldridge answered with a layup and Kyle Greathouse added a 3-pointer to give WCU a 7-6 lead. Western, who held the advantage until the start of overtime, held the Bulldgos with out a point for over seven minutes and would lead by as many as 21 with 5:09 left in the first half. Then, after an Aldridge layup put WCU up 20 with 28 seconds left before the break, Grayson Flittner drained a 3-pointer for GWU. Not only did that make it a 17-point game at halftime (43-26) , it proved to spark the Bulldogs for the second half.

Gardner-Webb opened the second half by making a basket just seven seconds into the period, then got a basket from Samba to trim its deficit to 13. Over the next three minutes, Western would get its lead back to 16 (49-33) with 16:36 left. From that point, Gardner-Web went on a 14-2 run to trail by four (51-47) as four different Bulldogs each made a 3-pointer over the span.

Brigham Waginger got WCU back on track with a 3-pointer from the right wing and Russell followed with a jumper at the 11:04 mark, putting the Cats up nine. However, after that jumper by Russell, Western would only make one more field goal in the second half, a dunk by Russell at the 5:04 mark.

Down six with 5:04 remaining, GWU's Ricky McPhee hit back-to-back 3-pointers prior to and following two free throws by Russell to make it a two-point contest. Russell would then hit four straight from the line to once again put the Cats up six (68-62) with 2:16 left in regulation. Gash drew the Bulldogs to within four by making two free throws, followed by two free throws by Jake Sims to get GWU to within two. With 35 ticks left, Robinson missed the first of two free throws but made the second, setting the stage for Gash's game-tying trey. Western worked the clock and was able to get a good look from the right baseline, but the shot rimmed out, forcing overtime.

The game was a tale of two halves. In the first half, WCU shot 58.6 percent from the field, making 4-of-9 3-pointers, and made all five free throw attempts. GWU only shot 35 percent in the first half, making just 3-of-12 beyond the arc, and going 1-of-8 at the charity stripe. However, in the second half, WCU only shot 40 percent, making just 1-of-6 from long range, and going 9-of-13 at the line. The Bulldogs rallied to shoot 68 percent from the field in the second half, making 7-of-11 from 3-point range, and sinking 6-of-10 at the line.

For Western, Russell, who also had a game-high eight rebounds, was 11-of-16 from the field and 8-of-9 at the line. Aldridge added 16 points with Greathouse chipping in nine.

Gardner-Webb was led by Gash's 18 points with Thomas Sanders scoring 11 off the bench and Siddle adding 10 points.

The Catamounts, who will be taking final exams this week, will once again have seven days off before returning to action next Saturday (Dec. 17) at Dayton. Tipoff is set for 8 pm. The game will mark the first for junior Arnold Gore, who missed WCU's first seven games due to NCAA transfer rules.