Nov. 23, 2009

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Harouna Mutombo led three Catamounts in double figures with a season-high 17 points as Western Carolina opened sub-regional play of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic with a 70-44 victory over NCAA Division-II foe Arkansas at Monticello in the Ramsey Center on Monday night. It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the hardwood.

Mutombo scored nine of his game-high 17 in the first half, with junior transfer Mike Williams adding his WCU-best 13 points and three steals in the win. Senior Brandon Giles rounded out the trio of Catamounts in double-figures with 10 points, while classmate Brigham Waginger matched a career-high with nine rebounds and dished out four assists to lead the squad.

Jake Robinson just missed double-figures with eight points, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers for his first triples of the season.

Mutombo finished 7-of-11 from the floor including 2-of-3 from beyond the 3-point arc as the Catamounts shot 49.2-percent for the game thanks to a 55.2-percent (16-of-29) in the second half.

Slow out of the gates in the first half, the Catamounts (2-1) built a little breathing room with a 10-0 spurt over a three-minute stretch, taking a 4-2 advantage and ballooning it to 12 at 14-2 midway through the first half

All told, WCU limited Arkansas-Monticello to 17 first half points, 10 of which were scored inside the final five minutes of the frame, to lead 30-17 at halftime.

In the second half, the Catamounts steadily pulled away from UAM, taking a game-high lead of 28 points inside the final minute on a 3-pointer by Antoine Childs to go ahead, 70-42.

The Catamounts forced the Boll Weevils into 24 turnovers, swiping a season-high 15 steals.

Arkansas-Monticello, which counted Monday's game as an exhibition on its schedule, was led by Gil Verner with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting including three, 3-pointers. Jarrell Turner paced the team with five rebounds as the Catamounts held a slim, 38-34, rebounding edge on the glass.

Action from the Cullowhee Sub-regional continues on Tuesday as the Catamounts host Binghamton in the night cap at 7:30 pm, with Duquense and Arkansas at Monticello opening the double-header at 5:00 pm.

Post-Game Notes:
- Western Carolina head coach Larry Hunter earned his career victory No. 561 with the win over Arkansas-Monticello;

- With his two treys on Monday night against Arkansas-Monticello, senior Jake Robinson now has 196 made 3-pointers in his career ... He remains third on WCU's career 3-pointers made chart, 11 shy of second-place Casey Rogers (207 from 1999-2002) and 49 behind all-time leader, Anquell McCollum (245 from 1993-96);

- Robinson also now has 906 career points, just 94 shy of surpassing the 1,000-point plateau ... Senior Brandon Giles, who eclipsed the milestone a season ago, currently has 1,050 career points to rank 33rd in WCU's record books, five points behind Bill Bowen (1956-57) for 32nd all-time;

- Senior Brigham Waginger recorded two steals on Monday night versus Arkansas-Monticello to give him an even 200 for his career ... Waginger is now just 21 steals behind WCU Hall of Famer and all-time steals leader, Henry Logan (221 from 1965-68)