March 7, 2008

Box Score |   

North Charleston, S.C. - After clawing back from down as many as six in the second half, ninth-seeded Western Carolina was outscored 15-to-4 over the final seven minutes as No. 8 Wofford erased the Catamounts two-point advantage en route to a nine-point, 58-49, win Friday afternoon in the opening round of the 2008 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship.

The loss ends Western Carolina's season at 10-21 overall, while Wofford advances to face the overall top seed in the tournament, No. 1 Davidson, at 2:00 pm on Saturday afternoon at the North Charleston Coliseum.

Over the first 33 minutes of the game, Wofford, which entered the game ranked 39th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (38.8%), was limited to a 1-for-12 showing (8.3%). However, during the final run, the Terriers connected on four of their five 3-pointers on the afternoon, including back-to-back triples by Corey Godzinski to pull away for the win.

"I thought Wofford had good focus and energy," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter in his opening statements during the post-game press conference. "That was their best defense of the three games we played with them this year. They took some things away from our offense and they did a good job with making adjustments."

Hunter added, "I have had a lot of fun coaching over the past two months. We have had some shortcomings, but we responded and improved throughout. We were competitive in all of our ball games over that span."

Sophomore guard Jake Robinson scored 14 points to lead the Catamounts while freshman Blake Gallagher finished with 10 off the bench, adding a team-high seven rebounds. Robinson finished the season with four-straight, double-figure scoring games. Seniors Eric Wilson and Arnold Gore chipped in eight and seven points, respectively, in the loss.

Wofford grabbed an early lead, capitalizing on its work on the glass. The Terriers pulled down the game's first five boards - three of which came on the offensive end. Western Carolina was able to claw back and knot the game a nine at the 13 minute mark of the opening stanza.

However, Wofford kept the Catamounts off the scoreboard for nearly four minutes to seize a five-point edge, stretching its first half lead to as many as nine, 23-14, before Gallagher connected in the paint at the buzzer to trim the deficit to five, 26-21, at the break.

Trailing by six, 33-27, with 14:33 to play, the Catamounts embarked on a 9-to-1 spurt to erase the deficit and take its first lead of the game by two, 36-34. The lead was traded back-and-forth over the next five minutes with WCU taking what would prove to be its final advantage, 45-43, at 7:09 before Wofford began its scoring run to close the game.

Wofford (16-15) was led by Noah Dahlman who scored a game-high 16, while Godzinski finished with 13 including three 3-pointers. WCU limited the Terriers' trio of leading scoring guards - each of which averaged double-digit scoring during the regular season - to a combined 18 points.

Long-range shooting woes plagued the Catamounts, which tied a seasonal-low for 3-pointers made in a game (3) while shooting its lowest percentage from beyond the arc this season (3-of-19, 15.8%).

Friday's loss also concludes the career of three Catamount seniors; Arnold Gore, Negus McKenna and Eric Wilson. McKenna and Wilson - who started as a walk-on for the Catamounts - each played all four seasons in Cullowhee, while Gore transferred to WCU last year.

Additional Post-Game Notes: * Sophomore Jake Robinson drained a pair of 3-pointers to finish with 70 on the season, which is good enough for the fifth-best, single-season in school history. He will enter his junior season next November ranked eighth on the career 3-pointers made chart with 134 chasing all-time leader, Anquell McCollum (1993-96), with 245;

* Senior Negus McKenna was 0-for-3 from long-range on Friday against Wofford, but concludes his collegiate career with 125 made treys to rank 10th on Western's all-time leader board;

* Western Carolina's loss to Wofford in the opening round was the Catamounts' first-ever to the Terriers in Southern Conference Tournament play ... WCU entered the game 1-0 all-time, winning the only previous meeting back in 1999.