Jan. 27, 2007

Final Stats

Davidson, N.C. - Davidson freshman Stephen Curry led all scorers with 25 points, including five 3-pointers, as the Wildcats handed Western Carolina its fourth-straight loss Saturday night, 79-59, in front of 4,438 at the Belk Arena. The Catamounts fell to 7-13 overall, 4-5 in the Southern Conference, while Davidson, the South Division leader, improved to 18-4, 9-1 in league play.

Freshman Nick Aldridge led Western with 14 points on 7-of-11shooting as both foul trouble and an injury to his left elbow limited his court time in the second half. For the game, the South Webster, Ohio, native was limited to 24 minutes on the floor, his lowest since also playing 24 at Dayton (12/16/06). Four Catamounts tallied eight points as juniors Arnold Gore, Eric Wilson and Negus McKenna were joined by freshman Brigham Waginger, with the latter trio each knocking down a pair of 3-pointers in the loss. Gore and Waginger led WCU with seven rebounds.

"Davidson is an awfully good basketball team, but I thought we took a step forward tonight. We really worked hard on the boards, especially in the second half, and that shows our effort," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter on the Catamount Sports Network's post-game show. "I was happy with some of our halftime adjustments and I thought we did a better job in the second half of reading double-teams and making the extra pass to find the open man."

Asked about how he felt his team missed senior Kyle Greathouse, who was injured earlier in the week in a one-care accident on Old Highway 107, Hunter replied, "Kyle gives us great leadership. So anytime you do not have him on the court you are missing something special. But, I thought our guys played well. I complimented Brigham (Waginger) when he came off the floor tonight because I felt he played very hard."

For Davidson, which captured career victory number 300 for head coach Bob McKillop, Curry reached 20 points for the ninth time in his brief Wildcat career, connecting on 8-of-11 from the floor including five buckets from long range and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Others in double figures for Davidson included Thomas Sander with 18 points, while William Archambault added 10 off the bench.

Utilizing three, 3-pointers, including two by junior Eric Wilson, Western (7-13, 4-5 SoCon) put together a 17-to-4 spurt to erase a 10-point deficit midway through the first half to claw ahead for a three-point advantage on an Aldridge lay-in at the 10:36 mark. However, Davidson recovered with a 25-to-5 run, and outscored the Catamounts 31-to-11 to close the half, to reclaim the advantage and lead at the break, 46-29.

Davidson drilled eight shots from downtown in the first 20 minutes of action highlighted by four straight, two each from Archambault and Curry, prior to intermission, while WCU was just 3-of-7 with two coming from Wilson. The Wildcats shot 50-percent over the opening stanza (14-of-28) and 53.3-percent from 3-point range (8-of-15). WCU countered with one of its better shooting performances, hitting 12-of-27 (44.4-percent).

Western closed to within 12 (59-47) at the 7:55 mark in the final stanza, but was unable to inch closer as the Wildcats responded with seven unanswered to put the game out of reach.

Western Carolina edged the Wildcats on the glass, 37-36.

The Catamounts return to action this Monday (Jan. 29) in the second half of a WCU basketball double-header. Western's women host the Elon Phoenix at 5:00 pm, while the Catamount men entertain Wofford at approximately 7:30 pm. Both games Monday night will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard in Western North Carolina on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee or on-line at www.WWCUFM.com. Fans can also follow along with live GameTracker, presented by WestCare and Carolina West Sports Medicine, at www.CatamountSports.com.

Monday night is also Sonic Greek Night. Everyone in attendance will receive a coupon for a FREE Sonic hotdog, redeemable at the Sonic Drive-In of Sylva. There will also be shooting contests at both games for more Sonic food, with a hotdog eating contest planned for halftime of the men's game. Also, the Sonic Skaters will be on hand on Sonic Night.