Jan. 24, 2008

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina senior Negus McKenna connected on a career-high eight 3-pointers for a career-best tying 24 points to pace three Catamounts in double figures in a 72-60 Southern Conference victory over the Elon Phoenix Thursday night at the Ramsey Center.

All eight of McKenna's made baskets came from beyond the 3-point arc as the fourth-year guard posted 12 in each half. The Montreal, Quebec, native scored 24 for the third-time in his WCU career to tie his personal benchmark.

"I was so happy for our players tonight," said Western Carolina head coach Larry Hunter during a post-game interview on the Catamount Sports Network. "You can name just about every player who contributed for us tonight. Negus (McKenna), Brandon (Giles) and Jake (Robinson); you could go down the line with those eight guys and say something about how hard they played. I also thought it was one of Brigham Waginger's better games in his career at Western Carolina. Brigham's defense tonight was terrific, getting his hands on a lot of balls and making things happen."

He added, "Our pre-game talk was about putting two halves together. We have been inconsistent with that, but I thought we were much better with executing that in this game. I thought Negus carried us in the first half. Also, another key in the game was the play from our posts. I thought we really neutralized Elon from playing the physical game they like."

Sophomore Brandon Giles ran his consecutive double-digit scoring outings to nine with 20 points, while classmate Jake Robinson added 15 points - including two exclamation point dunks inside the final minute - for the short-handed Catamounts as Western (6-12, 2-6 SoCon) defeated Elon at home for the seventh time in the last eight meetings.

Senior Arnold Gore added seven points for Western, while freshman Blake Gallagher led the Catamounts with seven rebounds, all coming on the defensive end. Waginger, who entered the game second in the SoCon in steals per game, tied a Ramsey Center record by making seven swipes in the win while also dishing out seven assists - both of which tied the best of his career.

Western was playing without the services of freshmen Michael Porrini, who ranks second on the team in scoring average, and Camden Miller, a key bench reserve, both of which missed the game due to personal reasons. The void left WCU with only eight total players, each of which saw at least 11 minutes of action in the game.

The Phoenix (7-12, 5-6 SoCon) took control of the contest in the first half after a short-lived, one-point Catamount lead inside the opening minute. Elon pulled ahead by as many as eight in the first stanza. But Western finished the half with eight-unanswered points, capped by a fast break lay-up and subsequent "and-1" free throw by Waginger to knot the game at 31 at intermission.

The Catamounts then used a 22-to-4 second half run over a six and a half minute span to erase a four-point deficit and grab their largest lead of the game with a 13-point, 56-43 edge with 9:21 to play. Elon was able to whittle away at Western's advantage, trimming the margin to one-possession at three with 1:49 to play. However, Robinson drained his third triple of the night right in front of the WCU bench to push the lead back to six, 66-60.

With the Phoenix pushing late to try and tie the game, Robinson would add two slam dunks on passes from Gore and Waginger to push the margin back into double figures as Western celebrated its second home conference victory of the season.

During what proved to be the Catamounts' decisive run, Western made five 3-pointers - four from McKenna alone including three-straight - and capitalized on seven missed Phoenix shots.

Elon, which dropped its third straight and lost for the eighth time in its last 10 games, was led by junior Ola Atoyebi with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Senior Montell Watson added 13 points with three 3-pointers, while junior Brett James finished with 11, six coming in the opening 20 minutes.

Western dominated play on the glass, out rebounding the Phoenix 37-to-20, including a 20-to-9 mark in the opening stanza. Also, for the second-straight game, the Catamounts attempted more free throws (10-of-18) than did their opponent (6-of-6).

Western Carolina hits the road this Saturday, traveling to Spartanburg, S.C., to face the Wofford Terriers (10-8, 3-5 SoCon). The Catamounts won the only meeting a year ago, winning in Cullowhee, 77-74, in overtime on Jan. 29, 2007. WCU has captured two-straight from Wofford, and has won six of the last seven meetings at the Benjamin Johnson Arena dating back to 1996.

Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm.