Jan. 8, 2009

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Red-shirt freshman Harouna Mutombo scored a career-high 29 points and junior teammate Brandon Giles tallied 20 as Western Carolina edged the UNC Greensboro Spartans, 80-75, Thursday night in the Southern Conference home opener at the Ramsey Center.

Junior Jake Robinson drained a pair of free throws inside the final 20 seconds and the Catamounts recorded three-consecutive steals on UNCG's final three possessions to preserve the win, snapping a three-game slide to the Spartans.

With the win, WCU opens league play at 2-0 for just the second time since 2000 - and for only the fifth-time since joining the Southern Conference in 1977. For UNC Greensboro (1-11, 0-3 SoCon), the loss relegates it to its 10th-straight overall, remaining winless in league play this season.

Mutombo's 29 points - 18 of which came in the second half - were the most by a Catamount this season, and the most by a WCU player since Giles tallied a career-best 32 against the College of Charleston in last year's SoCon home opener. The Pickering, Ontario native finished 10-of-13 (76.9%) from the floor and paced WCU with eight rebounds, five coming on the offensive end.

"I thought Harouna was huge for us," WCU coach Larry Hunter said. "We were struggling to get anything going, and I thought we showed a lot of poise. (UNCG) seized the momentum at the end of the first half, and we needed someone to give us a spark, and Harouna did."

On the importance of protecting the Ramsey Center court, Hunter added, "If you're going to be a contender, you need to win most of your games at home and steal some on the road. We are trying to do some things this program hasn't done in awhile. We have a chance to be a good solid program. We still have some work to do, but we've shown we can win close games."

Giles, who played much of the second half with four personal fouls, drained three 3-pointers and added seven boards on the night. Avery, who's two steals inside the final minute helped preserve the win, finished with nine points in his second-consecutive start. Junior Brigham Waginger netted six points on a pair of second-half 3-pointers while also dishing out a game-high tying five assists and swiping a pair of steals.

Missing its first three shots from the field and turning the ball over four times in the opening four minutes, Western Carolina (7-5, 2-0 SoCon) fell behind, 6-0, early in the game. However, the Catamounts responded with a 12-0 run, including seven points from Mutombo and five from Giles, to claim a lead they would hold the remainder of the first half.

A Waginger steal with six and a half minutes to play before the break turned into a fast-break lay-up by Avery giving WCU a game-high 13-point lead, 30-17. However, the Spartans chipped away at the deficit before intermission, holding the Catamounts without a field goal on their final five possessions - the final three and a half minutes of the session - to trim the margin to four, 38-34, at halftime.

The drought continued for Western at the start of the second half as UNC Greensboro put up five unanswered points to retake the lead, 39-38, less than a minute into the final stanza. The game see-sawed back-and-forth between the two sides over the next six minutes before the Spartans managed to seize control.

WCU went five and a half minutes without a field goal, tallying its five points during the same span on a pair of charity tosses from junior Adrian Gailliard and three from Mutombo as UNCG built its largest lead of the game at nine, 62-53. However, back-to-back lay-ups by Mutombo and consecutive treys from Waginger pulled the Catamounts back within a point, 64-63, with the Catamounts retaking the advantage on a pair of Mutombo free throws, 65-64. The WCU lead would balloon back to six, 70-64, with just under four minutes remaining. All told, Western used a 10-0 run to erase the deficit and push the advantage to six.

But the Spartans would not go away, battling back to knot the game at 72 before surging back in front, 73-72, on a free throw by Damian Eargle. Tied at 75, Mutombo connected on a pair of free throws at the one-minute mark setting up Robinson's clutch charity tosses and Avery's thievery to secure the victory, WCU's second-straight.

Western, which only managed 58.6-percent (17-of-29) from the free throw line for the game managed to hit its final five offerings from the stripe, icing the victory with steals on UNCG's final three possessions.

UNC Greensboro (1-11, 0-3 SoCon) was led by Mikko Koivisto with 23 points including six 3-pointers (6-of-12). Eargle added 13 and Ben Stywall dumped in 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds in the losing effort.

Western Carolina continues its two-game home stand on Saturday evening in the night cap of a Catamount basketball double-header. The Lady Catamounts host SoCon-newcomer, Samford, at 4:00 pm, while the men entertain North Division foe, Elon, at 7:00 pm. Saturday is Canton/Clyde Day with vouchers, which are redeemable for a "Buy One, Get One Free" ticket available at various locations in Haywood County.

Robinson, a native of Canton, will be the featured player and will be available to sign autographs post-game.