Feb. 14, 2007

Final Stats

Greensboro, N.C. - Shooting woes and a second half scoreless drought coupled with 32 points from the free throw line by UNC Greensboro were too much for Western Carolina to overcome on Wednesday night as the Catamounts' late rally came up just short in a 79-68 loss in Southern Conference action at Fleming Gymasium.

Western (10-16, 7-8 SoCon) rallied from down 18 in the second half to pull within eight points with possession of the basketball twice inside the final four minutes of regulation. Yet, a costly turnover and an inability to convert from the free throw line resulted in the Cats' second-straight SoCon North Division defeat.

The win for UNC Greensboro secures the Spartans at least a second-place finish in the division and a first-round bye in the 2007 Southern Conference Basketball Championships. Western, which dropped its third out of the last four trips to Greensboro, slides back into sixth place, one spot shy of earning a first-round bye.

Freshman of the Year candidate Nick Aldridge led Western with his fourth career double-double performance, finishing with a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds - eight on the offensive end - despite playing on a tender ankle, an injury suffered during the Chattanooga game on Monday night. Aldridge has scored in double-figures in 15-straight games and has tallied 20 points or more seven times this year. The South Webster, Ohio, native added four assists and a steal in the loss on Wednesday.

Junior Arnold Gore joined Aldridge in double figures with 14 points and seven rebounds, while freshman Brandon Giles scored 11 points, 10 of which came in a strong first half. Western's lone senior, Kyle Greathouse, also made his return to the court at UNCG, seeing four minutes of action.

Aldridge scored nine of Western's first 13 points in the first half as WCU built an early 5-0 lead only to see the Spartans use a 12-to-2 run to grab the lead for what would prove to be for good, 12-7. UNCG led by as many as 10, 37-27 with 5:52 remaining in the opening 20 minutes, but the Catamounts were able to close to within three, 44-41, at halftime.

Out of the locker room, UNC Greensboro turned to Ricky Hickman who scored the Spartans' first eight points of the second half. UNCG tallied 20 of the first 27 points after the half to push ahead by a game-high 18 points at the 11:52 mark of the second stanza. However, the Catamounts turned up the intensity, limiting the Greensboro to one field goal in a six-minute span as a part of an overall 14-to-4 run to trim the deficit back to single digits at eight, 72-64, with 4:30 to play.

Western had two chances to cut the lead to six, but could not capitalize from the foul line. With 2:49 to play, Aldridge missed a pair of free throws. The Spartans missed on their next possession, but Gore missed the front end of a one-and-one and UNCG went back to work on the clock. This time, Hickman dribbled around enough to get open for the driving lay-up to give UNCG a 10-point advantage and put away the victory.

Playing without SoCon leading scorer and rebounder, Kyle Hines, four Spartans scored in double-figures, led by 19 from Hickman, including a pair of 3-pointers and 11-of-14 shooting from the charity stripe. Mikko Koivisto and Kevin Olesiak each tallied 13 points, with Ben Stywall finishing with 10 points and a team-high tying eight boards.

Western struggled both beyond the arc and at the foul line, shooting 3-of-21 (14.3%) from long range and connecting on 13-of-25 free throws, 52-percent. Yet, for the third-consecutive game - and 11th time this season - the smaller WCU squad out rebounded the opposition, posting a 42-to-35 edge over UNCG. However, the Spartans received 37 points from its bench while the Catamounts only managed eight.

Western returns to action this Saturday, Feb. 17, in the second half of a Catamount hoops doubleheader. The Lady Catamounts host Furman at 4:00 pm, with the men entertaining the SoCon-leading Davidson Wildcats at 7:00 pm in the Ramsey Center. WCU will welcome home its former men's and women's basketball players for Alumni Day in Cullowhee.

Both games will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally in Western North Carolina on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Western North Carolina.