Dec. 7, 2008

Box Score

Kent, Ohio - Western Carolina junior Brigham Waginger led four players in double figures with a career-high 20 points, including five in overtime, as the Catamounts won their third-straight, outlasting Kent State 89-84 in overtime Saturday night at the M.A.C. Center.

WCU's current winning streak is it's longest since also winning three-straight in November of 2006 when it downed Atlanta Christian, Toccoa Falls and Wofford in succession.

"It was kind of a story of two halves; Kent State's energy and intensity and toughness in the first half was really the story early and I didn't think we played very well - but I give Kent State a lot of credit for that," said WCU fourth-year head coach Larry Hunter. "Late in the second half, we had a six or seven point lead and Kent State did a great job. We changed our defense, which had worked against the half court set, but they got us in transition and twice found the open man that hit two 3-pointers on us and put them right back in the game. But it was just one heck of a ball game."

Playing in his home state of Ohio, Waginger finished 7-of-10 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from beyond the 3-point arc in the win. He also pulled down six rebounds while dishing out three assists and swiping three steals. His classmate, junior F Jake Robinson, added 18 points, including three 3-pointers, and eight boards for WCU (4-2) while also passing out a team-best four assists.

Junior G Brandon Giles and red-shirt freshman Harouna Mutombo scored 16 points apiece in the winning effort with Mutombo making a game-high four steals. Sophomore Richie Gordon tallied eight points and a team-high seven boards despite battling foul trouble before eventually fouling out midway through the second half.

Chris Singletary poured in a game-high 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Kent State (3-5), which suffered its fifth straight defeat. Post man Brandon Parks registered a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Al Fisher had 12 points and six assists.

Western Carolina opened the game with a 10-to-4 edge before the Golden Flashes recovered to take its first lead five and a half minutes into the first half. Kent State managed to take its largest lead of the contest at 13 points with just under six minutes to play before the break, capitalizing on a traditional three-point play.

The Catamounts clawed their way back in, though, and only trailed by eight, 39-31, at the half.

Out of the halftime locker room, the Catamounts, spurred by an increased intensity on the defensive end, used a 12-to-4 spurt to erase the halftime deficit, tying the game at 43 just four minutes into the second stanza.

Tied at 47, WCU used a 12-to-2 run to build its game-high lead of 10 points midway through the half. The lead hovered around seven points over the next seven minutes until back-to-back 3-pointers by Mike McKee and Singletary closed the deficit to two with two minutes to play.

Parks hit one of two free throw attempts for KSU with 1:43 to play to trim the game to a one-point margin. However, Robinson buried a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to again stretch the game back out to four, 77-73. Parks broke free for a dunk to again pull the Flashes to within a bucket with just over a minute to play.

Down two, Kent State missed two opportunities to reclaim the lead as both Singletary and Al Fisher both went 1-for-2 on two-shot fouls, but the latter did manage to tie the game with seven seconds showing on the game close, 77-77.

In the extra session, Western outscored the Golden Flashes, 12-7, including a 7-of-10 showing at the foul line to pull out the five-point win.

Western Carolina will break for eight days before returning to action in the first of back-to-back home games on Monday, Dec. 15 as it welcomes Tennessee Wesleyan to the Ramsey Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm.