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Georgia Southern Pulls Away Late to Down Catamounts, 69-58, Monday Night

Box Score

Jan. 28, 2008

Box Score

Cullowhee, N.C. - Connecting on nine of its first 17 field goal attempts, Western Carolina raced to a double-digit first half lead Monday night against Southern Conference foe, Georgia Southern. Yet, the visiting Eagles chipped away at WCU's advantage before the half, and used a strong second half run to rally past the Catamounts, 69-58, in the Ramsey Center.

The Eagles scored the game's final 12 points as WCU was held without a field goal over the final six and a half minutes to prevent the Catamounts from claiming consecutive home conference victories. GSU has now claimed eight of the last nine meetings in the overall series.

Western Carolina (6-14, 2-8 SoCon) put three players in double figures led by 17 points from sophomore Brandon Giles, who finished 8-of-11 from the free throw line and extended his double-digit scoring streak to 11 games. Sophomore Jake Robinson hit four 3-pointers for 12 points, while senior Negus McKenna posted his third-consecutive double-figure scoring night, hitting two 3-pointers for a 10-point performance.

McKenna cooled just a bit from his red-hot shooting pace over the past two games - from 87-percent (13-of-15) to 75-percent, but has connected on 15 of his last 20 3-point field goal attempts.

Freshmen Blake Gallagher and Richie Gordon combined for 11 rebounds and seven points with Gallagher leading the way with six boards.

The Catamounts pounced on GSU early, grabbing a game-high, 15-point lead midway through the half, 22-7. WCU hit four if its eight 3-point attempts during the opening run. But the Eagles rallied, outscoring Western by the same count - 22-to-7 - over the next nine minutes to erase the deficit and tie the game at 29 at the one minute mark.

Giles connected on two of three free throw attempts in the closing seconds to push Western ahead by four, 35-31, at intermission.

Georgia Southern (14-7, 7-4 SoCon) opened the second half with a 15-to-1 run - holding the Catamounts without a field goal until the 14:29 mark of the stanza - to erase WCU's four-point halftime advantage and build a 10-point edge of its own, 46-36. All told, between the two halves, GSU put together a 37-to-8 run to grab the lead.

But the resilient Catamounts did not falter, rattling off a 10-0 run of its own to knot the game at 46 at the 12 minute mark. The two teams traded the lead back-and-forth over the next four minutes with WCU taking the largest advantage during the swap at three points.

Tied at 56 at the seven minute mark, Western was outscored 13-to-2 the remainder of the game with the Catamounts' final points coming on a McKenna slam dunk after gathering in a save by Gordon in the lane at 6:43 that gave WCU a one-point lead, 58-57.

During the final stretch, Western committed five of its game-high 18 turnovers and missed five shots including the front end of a one-and-one.

Senior forward Louis Graham led two Eagles in double figures with a game-high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting and nine made free throws. His classmate, Matthew Fields, posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds as both players recorded three steals apiece. Freshman Willie Powers just missed double figures with nine points including two 3-pointers.

Western Carolina remains at home for its next two ball games, hosting North Division and conference rival Appalachian State this Saturday, Feb. 2 at 7:03 pm, with Chattanooga visiting the Ramsey Center next Monday, Feb. 4.

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