Feb. 18, 2007

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Using a Ramsey Center record 16 3-pointers, the Davidson Wildcats downed the Western Carolina Catamounts, 92-59, Saturday night in Southern Conference play. In a game that pitted the top two rookies in the SoCon, neither disappointed as Davidson's Stephen Curry finished with a game-high 25 points and Western's Nick Aldridge tallied a team-high 19 points with five rebounds and a pair of steals.

With the win, Davidson (23-4, 14-1 SoCon) clinched first-place in the Southern Conference's South Division. Western dropped its third-straight to fall to 10-17 overall, 7-9 in league play.

Joining Aldridge in double figures was his classmate, Brandon Giles, with 10 points. Juniors Arnold Gore and Negus McKenna each chipped in seven points, with McKenna garnering seven boards to pace the team. Freshman Brigham Waginger finished with five points with three assists and a game-high four steals.

Gore laid in the game's first bucket on a pass from Aldridge to give WCU a short-lived 2-0 lead just nine seconds into the contest. The Wildcats, though, countered with a 13-to-2 run to take a 13-4 lead at the 14:38 mark. Western responded with an 11-0 run, capped by a three-point play by Giles, to take what would prove to be its final lead of the game, 15-13 at 12:15.

On the ensuing Davidson possession, Jason Richardson hit his first of four 3-pointers in a row to extend the Wildcat lead to 10 at the 9:18 mark. Davidson's next three field goals were also treys, two of them coming from Curry to cap off a 20-4 run with 3:45 remaining in the half. The `Cats would lead by as many as 20 in the opening half, holding a 17-point, 44-27, advantage at the break.

WCU only managed a Waginger trey over the opening three and a half minutes of the second half as Davidson extended its lead back into the 20s midway through the final stanza. The Wildcats eclipsed the 30-point mark with four-consecutive free throws at the 9:38 mark and established its largest lead of the game at the 3:54 mark of the second-half compliments of a Bryant Barr jumper to give the Wildcats a 40-point advantage, 89-49. The Catamounts closed the game with a 10-to-3 run for the final margin, 92-59.

Richards ended the contest 6-of-9 from the beyond the arc, tallying 21 points and seven assists to accompany Curry's 25 points. Boris Meno, along with teammate Thomas Sander, finished with 14 points apiece while Meno collected a game-high 11 boards for his sixth double-double of the season.

Western's struggles from behind the arc continued as the Catamounts shot 6-of-25 (24.0%) including 1-of-15 (6.7%) from 3-point range in the first half. Davidson managed 50.8% from the field and 45.7% from long range.

The Catamounts return to the Ramsey Center court for the final time this Monday night (Feb.19) to host arch-rival Appalachian State at 7:00 pm in the Ramsey Center. WCU will honor its lone senior, Kyle Greathouse, in a pre-game ceremony. The game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard in Western North Carolina on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee, with live audio and GameTracker available at www.CatamountSports.com.