Dec. 5, 2007

Box Score

Cullowhee, N.C. - Freshman point guard Michael Porrini equaled his previous career best in the first 20 minutes of play, finishing the game with a career-high 17 points as Western Carolina cruised to a 20-point, 84-64, victory over the feisty North Carolina Central Eagles Wednesday night in non-conference action at the Ramsey Center.

Porrini scored 15 points in 17 minutes of action in the first half and established a new benchmark on a slicing drive and lay-in with six minutes remaining in the game to pace three Catamounts in double figures. His front court classmate, Blake Gallagher, tied his career-high for the second-straight game with 11 points while posting his first collegiate double-double with 12 boards in the win.

Coming off a career-high 32 points on Saturday, sophomore Brandon Giles posted his third-straight double-digit performance tallying 10 to round out WCU's double-digit scorers. Brigham Waginger just missed double figures with nine points and three steals.

"We really put an emphasis on defending North Carolina Central. The other thing that jumped out at me tonight was that we really passed the ball very well. We are executing and our shot selection has gotten a lot better," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter. "I thought we had two pretty solid halves of shooting the basketball. There is a lot we can still build on - there were a lot of mistakes we made tonight that we can continue to get better on. Everybody got to play and get significant minutes and that always helps your team when you can have that happen."

"I thought Mike Porrini had a really good first half for us. He got some energy going on the court. Blake Gallagher had a double-double tonight and is shooting almost 70 percent from the field. I think he is growing by leaps and bounds on the court every night we play," Hunter added.

Western (3-5) started out well the Catamounts' first four baskets of the game came from behind the 3-point arc. Sophomore Jake Robinson scored six of his nine points on the night within the opening four minutes, with Porrini sinking the other two treys as WCU rallied from down two, 5-3, to take the lead for good, 6-5, at the 16:40 mark of the first half.

The Catamounts outscored the Eagles 20-to-7 over the final eight minutes of the half after NCCU had trimmed the WCU advantage to just one, 21-20, to lead at the break by 14, 41-27.

Out of the halftime locker room, WCU continued to stretch its lead with junior transfer Tim Magowan connecting on his first field goal as a Catamount with a 3-pointer that ballooned the advantage to a game-high 28 with 9:20 remaining in the game. Magowan finished with four points in his first substantial action of the year.

North Carolina Central continued to battle, however, and trimmed the lead back into the teens with three-unanswered baskets to pull within 17, 75-58. Yet, Western used a dunk by freshman Camden Miller and two field goals by senior Negus McKenna to push the lead back in to the 20s, ending at 84-64.

The Eagles (1-10) put two players in double-figures led by a game-high 23 points from guard Bryan Ayala, who was 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Forward Charles Futrell added 18 points and a team-best seven boards in the loss.

Western's bench outscored the Eagles, 33-9, and the Catamounts held a 46-to-32 edge on the boards, including a 17-to-9 advantage on the offensive glass. WCU continued to shoot the ball well from outside, canning 10-of-28 from beyond the 3-point arc, but struggled from the free throw line only making 16-of-28 for 57-percent. Conversely, NCCU was 16-of-22 from the charity stripe in the losing effort.

Western Carolina will now break for final exams before returning to action in 10 days, visiting No. 15 Indiana at Assembly Hall on Saturday, Dec. 15. The Catamounts will also face Illinois in Champaign before coming home two days after the Christmas holiday to host Presbyterian, like North Carolina Central, another Division II program amidst reclassification to Division I this year.