Box Score Feb. 10, 2007
Final Stats
Cullowhee, N.C. -
After trailing the majority of the first half and the opening five minutes of the second, Western Carolina used a 12-to-2 second half burst to transform its three-point edge into a double-digit lead it would not relinquish as the Catamounts clipped the Georgia Southern Eagles, 69-57, Saturday evening in the Ramsey Center.
WCU snapped a seven-game drought against the Eagles with the win and earned its first home victory over GSU since the 2001 season. Also, the 4,217 fans in attendance were the most this year - and the most since Jan. 14 of last season (4,343 vs. UTC).
Junior Arnold Gore led the way for Western, which captured its 10th win of the season and moved above .500 in league play at 7-6. The junior transfer tallied 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, including a thunderous dunk, adding five rebounds. WCU leading scorer - and SoCon Freshman of the Year candidate - Nick Aldridge finished with 16 points, scoring 12 after halftime to run his double-digit scoring streak to 13 games - and 20 of his 23 career games. Drawing double-teams nearly every time he touched the ball, the South Webster, Ohio native added a career-best six assists and a team-high seven rebounds in the win.
Rounding out WCU's double-digit scorers were junior Antonio Russell with 15, including a pair of treys and five free throws, with freshman Jake Robinson chipping in 10 points with six boards. His rookie counterpart, Brandon Giles, just missed double-figures with nine points and a pair of steals.
Despite leading briefly, 2-0, Western trailed 32-26 at the half as the Eagles led 17:35 of the opening 20 minutes. However, the Catamounts came out of the locker room poised, embarking on an 11-2 run during the first four and a half of the second half to take its second lead of the game at 37-34.
After trading buckets over the next four and a half minutes, Western went on the aforementioned 12-to-2 run to pull ahead by 13, 60-47, with 6:42 showing on the game clock. The Catamounts would build the lead to as many as 15 inside the final two minutes and secured the double-digit win with a Giles dunk off a feed from freshman Brigham Waginger.
All told, Western shot a blistering 56-percent from the field during the second period and finished 44.4-percent from the floor for the game, including 6-of-20 (30.0%) from long range. Georgia Southern shot 41.7-percent for the game but were just 3-of-18 (16.7%) from behind the 3-point line.
Georgia Southern put two in double figures, led by Donte Gennie who scored 24 points on 10-of-16 from the field, including three 3-pointers. Jimmy Tobias came of the bench and had a double-double for the Eagles, scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
Western next hosts Chattanooga in the night cap of a Catamount hoops double-header on Monday (Feb. 12) night in the Ramsey Center. The women host Georgia Southern at 5:00 pm, with the men's game slated to begin 30 minutes after. Both games will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and carried on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Western North Carolina and online at www.WWCUFM.com.
