Jan. 22, 2009

Box Score

Charleston, S.C. - Demetrius Nelson and Zach Urbanus scored 16 points each to lead The Citadel to a 66-52 victory over Western Carolina on Thursday night in Southern Conference action at the McAlister Fieldhouse.

Nelson's output gave him 1,001 points for his career, making him the 25th player to surpass that mark at The Citadel (9-10, 4-4 SoCon).

Brandon Giles led Western Carolina with 11 points as the lone Catamount in double figures. Red-shirt freshman Harouna Mutombo had his eight-game double-digit scoring streak snapped as he finished with nine points, while sophomore Blake Gallagher finished 4-for-4 from the field for eight points.

Junior Kendall Russell scored seven points and led WCU with six rebounds off the bench.

WCU rallied from an early six-point deficit to pull ahead of a four-point play after junior Jake Robinson (7 pts) was fouled on a sucessful 3-point attempt. The Cats took their largest lead of the game at four with just over a minute to play before the break.

Western Carolina (9-8, 4-3) led 28-27 at halftime, but the Bulldogs were 14 of 20 from the field (70-percent) in the second half, and shot 61 percent (25-of-41) for the game. The Catamounts shot only 37.5 percent from the field (9-of-24) in the second half.

The teams were tied at 35 when The Citadel went on a 16-2 run for a 51-37 lead with 7:56 left in the game. The lead reached 62-42 on a jumper by Nelson with 3:23 remaining.

Cameron Wells rounded out the trio of Bulldogs double-digit scorers with 10 points for the Bulldogs.

Western Carolina, which has played three of its last four on the road, wraps up a two-game road swing when it visits archrival Appalachian State this Saturday, Jan. 24 in Boone. The game will be televised live on SportSouth with tip-off set for 5:00 pm from the Holmes Center.