March 2, 2006

Final Stats

North Charleston, S.C. - Western Carolina senior Corey Muirhead scored 25 points with eight rebounds and a career-high five assists, while fellow senior David Berghoefer registered a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. However, Kyle Hines scored 26 and Kevin Oleksiak added 13 to lead the Spartans to a 69-65 victory over the Catamounts Thursday evening in the first round of the 2006 Southern Conference Tournament, played at the North Charleston Coliseum.

The Catamounts (13-17) led 32-30 at halftime, but UNCG opened the second half with a 16-5 run to take a 47-37 advantage with 14:11 left. Western would cut its deficit to one on three occasions inside the final 7:30, but would never be able to overtake the Spartans.

After a Muirhead layup, the Spartans (12-18) were up just two (67-65) with under 20 seconds remaining. Western's defense forced a missed layup, but Devin Boddie got the offensive rebound and sank two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to seal the 69-65 outcome.

With Western down 47-40 with 13:55 left, Muirhead took over for the Catamounts, scoring 14 of WCU's next 17 points as the Cats got two within three with 5:09 left. Then, Miurhead assisted on the Cats' next basket, making it a one-point game.

While Muirhead was accounting for Western's offense in the final 20 miuntes, Hines was UNCG's go-to guy in both halves. First, the sophomore scored 13 of the Spartans' 30 first-half points, making 6-of-9 shots from the field. In the second half, he was 4-of-5 from the floor and, more importantly, 5-of-7 from the line.

Western jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, thanks to five points from Negus McKenna and a 3-pointer from Kyle Greathouse. However, the Spartans would knot the game at 16-16 and eventually take a 24-18 advantage with 7:39 left before halftime. The Catamounts would hold UNCG scoreless for the next six minutes to and went on a 12-0 run to go up 30-24. Hines ended the dry spell with an old-fashion three-point play and Oleksiak drained a 3-pointer with five seconds left to give the Spartans the momentum in the start of the second half.

Muirhead concludes his career with 1,025 points to rank 33rd on the school's all-time list Berghoefer finished with 1,180 career points, to rank 23rd in WCU history, while his 688 career rebounds just missed the WCU top 10 in rebounds, needing 11 more to enter the list. Also, Berghoefer ends his career 10th on the WCU career list for field goal percentage at .497. Jared Outing concluded his career with 488 points and 358 rebounds.

Also, Gretahouse, with one year remaining, moved into fifth on the WCU career list for 3-pointers made, now with 157. Greathouse's 64 3-pointers made this season ranks seventh-tied on the school's single-season list. Also, McKenna's season 3-point percentage of .430 ranks sixth on the WCU season list.

As a team, Western set school records for 3-pointers made (221), 3-pointers attempted (625) and 3-pointers made per game (7.37).