Nov. 27, 2007

Box Score

Elon, N.C. - Despite a season-high scoring performance by sophomore Brandon Giles, the Western Carolina men's basketball team was unable to overcome a second-half scoring slump against the Elon Phoenix Tuesday evening, falling 59-49 in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.

Giles led the Catamounts with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, including hitting two out of his four three-point attempts - the only WCU player to hit more than one from behind the arc in the contest.

Freshman point guard Michael Porrini scored in double-digits for the fifth-straight game after contributing 12 points in addition to leading the team with five rebounds and three steals on the night. Porrini started his rookie campaign with nine points in the season-opener against Bowling Green, and has yet to dip below the ten-point mark since.

The two teams came out trading baskets back-and-forth for the majority of the first half, in which neither team led by more than four points until the 3:22 mark when Giles hit a three-pointer to push the Catamount lead to seven. WCU then went on an 11-5 run before halftime to build an eight-point, 26-18, lead at the break.

The Phoenix was able to take advantage of Western's inability to get a constant scoring streak together to chip into the Catamount lead early in the second half. Elon (3-3, 1-0 SoCon) retook the lead by one on Ola Atoyebi's jumper the lane with 14 minutes remaining, and kept the advantage for the remainder of the game. As a team, WCU shot 29.6 percent from the field in the second half, and just 50 percent from the free-throw line.

Western (2-4, 0-1 SoCon) returns home this Saturday, Dec. 1 when the College of Charleston visits the Ramsey Center. It will be the first home SoCon game of the season for the Catamounts, who will be looking to get back on the winning track in the conference. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:03 pm. Those unable to make it to the game can listen to the action on the Catamount Sports Network on the flagship station, Power 90dot5 WWCU-FM, or on Jackson County Radio, 680 AM WRGC. Fans can also follow the game on GameTracker, online at catamountsports.com.