Nov. 14, 2007

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Playing its fourth game in six days, Western Carolina overcame early struggles with a strong second half run to build a double-digit lead, and then held off the feisty Methodist University Monarchs for an 87-76 victory Wednesday night in the 2007-08 home opener in the Ramsey Center.

Western snapped its two-game losing skid to move to 2-2 on the young season, while also improving its record to 15-6 in home openers since moving into Ramsey in the 1986-87 season.

"We struggled a little bit tonight. I thought we played like it was our fourth game in six days," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter. "Our legs were very tired out there. We tried to play a lot of people, but some of our younger players are still learning and I thought we were a step slow in a lot of things we were doing. Give Methodist credit, they are a very dangerous type team to be playing when you are like that. I thought they were very athletic and very explosive and came in her with a great mind set."

Sophomore forward Nick Aldridge posted his 24th-consecutive double figure scoring night with a game-high 22 points to lead the Catamounts. The South Webster, Ohio, native added five rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and three steals in 29 minutes of action. Freshman guard Michael Porrini finished with his first career double-double tallying 15 points and 10 rebounds, just missing the triple-double with a career-best seven assists and four steals.

Rounding out Western's double-digit scorers was sophomore Brandon Giles with 13 points and four assists. Freshman Camden Miller just missed double figures, adding eight points off the bench for WCU including a 2-for-2 showing from long range. Classmate Blake Gallagher added eight boards off the bench behind Porrini's game-high 10.

"Mike (Porrini) has a great feel for the game and is a tremendous competitor. He has that ability when he gets tired to dig down deep and still make plays and compete. He had some terrific finishes tonight. I thought he was the one guy at halftime stepping up and made some comments that were very appropriate about the things we needed to do in the second half," Hunter added.

Using a 9-2 run midway through the first half, Methodist staked itself to a seven-point, 19-12 lead on one five Billy McDade 3-pointers. However, the Catamounts rallied over the next two minutes to reclaim the advantage with eight unanswered points, going inside for four points from Aldridge, a Porrini jumper and a dunk by freshman Richie Gordon.

Tied at 26, a 7-0 spurt by the Catamounts marked the sixth lead change of the opening stanza and gave WCU its largest lead of the half, matching the Monarchs' largest advantage at 33-26. Methodist was able to trim Western's advantage to three at the break, 35-32.

In the second half, Western Carolina was able to balloon its lead to a game-high 20 points, 74-54, with just under seven minutes remaining on the Ramsey Center clock. However, the Monarchs, who drained a total of 10 3-pointers on the night, chipped away and even cut it to single-digits, 85-76, on a pair of Eric Thomas free throws with 1:24 remaining. Yet, the Catamount defense helped preserve the win forcing five missed shots and a pair of turnovers inside the closing seconds for the final, 87-76, tally.

Western shot 51.4-percent from the floor, while Methodist countered with 46.4 from the field, including 41.7-percent from beyond the 3-point arc. The Catamounts, though, had a commanding 58-to-28 point advantage in the paint.

McDade led four Monarchs in double digits with 17 points including five treys, with senior Brian Lane adding 15 points. Junior Travis McBryde chipped in 12 points off the bench, while A. B. Lehman finishing with 11 points and four assists in the loss.

Western Carolina returns to action next Tuesday, Nov. 20 as it hosts mountain-rival, UNC Asheville in the Ramsey Center at 7:03 pm in the Parkway Series. The Catamounts downed the Bulldogs in Asheville last season, 61-46, and will go for its third-straight win in the series. Overall, Western leads the Parkway Series, 4-0, with wins in men's and women's cross country, volleyball and women's soccer already this fall.