Jan. 8, 2007

Final Stats

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Junior Antonio Russell added a late spark to the Catamount offense, scoring 12 of his team-high 16 inside the final 5:16 as Western Carolina led from start-to-finish, clipping the Chattanooga Mocs, 73-67, Monday night in Southern Conference action.

The win, which gives Western a 4-1 start in league play matching its best opening five games since also going 4-1 in the 1994-95 season, was just the second all-time for the Catamounts at the McKenzie Arena. It also sets up a first place showdown in Boone next Monday, Jan. 15 as Western visits arch-rival, Appalachian State, in a FSN televised affair, tip-off at 7:30 pm.

Late in the second half, Chattanooga's Keddric Mays nailed a 3-pointer to pull the Mocs to within two, 57-55, before Russell took over. The Tampa, Fla., native hit 1-of-2 charity tosses on the ensuing possession and buried a trey following a UTC miss to balloon the advantage back out to six, 61-55, with 4:38 to play. Russell would add a lay-up and hit 6-of-6 free throws to help Western keep the Mocs at bay. UTC hit consecutive 3-pointers inside the final minute to trim the lead to four, but the Mocs would not score again as Western iced the game from the charity stripe.

Russell led four Catamounts in double figures, with freshman forward Nick Aldridge adding 15 points, 13 of which came in the first half, and four rebounds. Junior Arnold Gore went 6-of-9 from the field en route to scoring 12, while freshman Brigham Waginger, who saw additional court time due to an ankle injury to WCU senior Kyle Greathouse six minutes into the game, scored his SoCon-high of 10 points. Waginger and his freshman counterpart, Brandon Giles, led the team with seven rebounds apiece.

Behind strong opening 20 minutes by Aldridge and Gore, Western Carolina led by as many as 13 in the first half but committed seven turnovers amidst a 15-4 Chattanooga run that cut the lead to two points with 1:50 remaining in the half. The Catamounts got back-to-back baskets from Aldridge and were able to recover and take a four-point, 36-32, advantage to the halftime locker room.

Out of intermission, freshman Jake Robinson scored three of his five points on a triple to push Western ahead by seven, 39-32, but back-to-back buckets by the Mocs closed the game back to within two, 39-37. The Catamounts managed to answer with five-straight points by Waginger and eventually expanded the lead to 10, 57-47, with 7:09 to play prompting a Chattanooga timeout. After the stoppage, the Mocs rallied to again trim the deficit to a pair with an 8-0 spurt, setting up Russell's final five minute heroics.

Mays was 4-of-9 from long distance and led Chattanooga with 14 points. Casey Long added 12 points and six rebounds for the Mocs. Khalil Hartwell and Nicchaeus Doaks helped the Mocs to a six rebound advantage for the game with nine and eight rebounds, respectively, with Doaks also scoring 11 points.

Chattanooga struggled from the floor, managing a meager 38.6 shooting percentage and 53.3 percent from the free throw line. Western countered with a 45.6-percent outing, hitting 71-percent (15-of-21) of its free throw attempts and 35-percent (6-of-17) from long range.

Western returns to action at Appalachian State next Monday, Jan. 15, in a televised game in Boone. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm. The game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard in Western North Carolina on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 or online at www.WWCUFM.com.