Jan. 16, 2010

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Brandon Giles led five Catamounts in double figures with a season-high 25 points including his squad's final six as Western Carolina held off Elon, 83-81, in Southern Conference action on Saturday night in the Ramsey Center.

Giles gave WCU, which won its second-straight game, a six-point, 79-73, cushion on a jumper just inside the five minute mark. However, Elon's Chris Long drained one of Elon's seven second half 3-pointers to close the gap to one, 79-78, with three minutes remaining. After nearly a two-minute scoring void, Giles again lit the scoreboard with an old-fashioned three-point play to hand the Catamounts a four-point, 82-78, advantage.

The Phoenix (3-14, 1-5 SoCon), which lost its eighth-straight, closed back within a point inside the final minute after Drew Spradlin connected on 1-of-2 free throws and a jumper with seven ticks remaining on the Ramsey Center clock to make it a one-point game, 82-81. On the ensuing in-bounds play, Giles was fouled and made one of two free throws and Elon did not get a final shot off before the buzzer ended the game.

The win was WCU's third-straight over Elon at home and represented the 13th-consecutive home victory for the Catamounts.

Behind Giles, who made four 3-pointers in the win, Mike Williams finished with 15 points for the Catamounts (14-3, 4-1 SoCon) while Harouna Mutombo had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists. Post-players Kendall Russell and Richie Gordon each scored 10 with Russell notching his third-straight, double-digit effort. Russell, Mutombo and Gordon all tied for the team-high five rebounds.

Brigham Waginger just missed double-digit scoring with eight points, handing out four assists and four steals in the win.

After leading by 10 at halftime and a game-high 12 just into the second half following a Mutombo lay-up, Western Carolina held a 62-53 lead on Williams' layup with 11:10 left in the second half. The Phoenix attempted a rally, cutting the Catamounts' lead down to one point twice inside the final three minutes, but Elon would never tie nor pull ahead of Western Carolina.

Spradlin led Elon with 22 points, while T.J. Douglas hit seven 3-pointers to score all 21 of his points. Long chipped in 15 points, five assists for Elon in the losing effort.

All told in the second half, Elon shot a sizzling 65.4-percent (17-of-26) from the field after intermission, including 7-of-10 (70%) from beyond the 3-point arc against the Catamount defense which entered the game second in the SoCon in field goal defense (40.5%) and first in defending the 3-pointer (26.5%). Both squads shot 9-of-22 from 3-point range for the game.

Four of Western Carolina's next five games are on the road in SoCon play beginning Wednesday, Jan. 20 as the Catamounts visit Davidson in the Belk Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm. WCU will then visit arch-rival Appalachian State on Saturday, Jan. 23 for a 3:00 pm tip at the Holmes Center.

Post-Game Notes:
- Western Carolina improved to 10-0 at home this season in the Ramsey Center while extending its home court winning streak to 13-straight games which includes six-straight against Southern Conference foes ... All told, WCU has won 23 of its last 25 home games in the Ramsey Center and 14 of its last 15 SoCon matchups in Cullowhee;

- With Saturday night's home win over Elon, Western Carolina has won three-straight home games over the Phoenix and has secured victory in nine of the last 10 series meetings in Cullowhee;

- Elon shot 51.9-percent from the floor on Saturday night - it marks the first-time this season (1-3) that Western Carolina won when allowing an opponent to shoot 50-percent or better from the field ... WCU is now 4-33 all-time under Larry Hunter when the opposition shoots 50-percent or better from the floor;

- WCU led at the half for the 13th-time this season, improving to 13-0 when leading at intermission;

- The WCU school record for home wins in a single season was set a year ago at 11 as the Catamounts went 11-2 inside the friendly confines of the Ramsey Center in 2008-09 ... WCU is one home win shy of matching that record total;

- Saturday's announced attendance of 3,086 was a season high, surpassing Thursday's 3,027 that saw the Catamounts down UNC Greensboro ... Saturday's crowd was the largest since 3,237 were on hand for the rivalry match-up with Appalachian State back on Feb. 19, 2007;

- With Western Carolina's home win over Elon coupled with Chattanooga's home loss to the College of Charleston, the Catamounts claim sole possession of first place in the Southern Conference's North Division at 4-1 ... the Mocs slip to third at 3-2 while Appalachian State is second at 4-2 in league action after a home win over UNC Greensboro on Saturday afternoon;

- Senior Brandon Giles scored a season-high 25 points to lead the Catamounts over Elon ... it was his third-straight double-digit scoring effort and the sixth in his last seven games ... Giles has eclipsed the 20-point plateau three times this season;

- Senior Brigham Waginger, the school's all-time leader in steals with 238 and counting after Saturday night, moved into 10th place on Western Carolina's career assists chart, supplanting current WCU assistant coach Anquell McCollum (315, 1993-96) on the list ... Waginger has 324 career assists to rank 10th on the career list;

- Waginger also moved into sole possession of seventh place on the Southern Conference's career steals list, by-passing both Ricky Hickman (UNC Greensboro) and Rodney Peel (Appalachian State);

- Senior Kendall Russell posted his third-straight double-digit scoring outing, finishing with 10 points against Elon ... Russell has five double-figure scoring games in his WCU career, four coming this season ... Russell has also made 23 of his last 26 free throw attempts for 88.5% over his past five games;

- Senior Jake Robinson was held scoreless on Saturday night marking just the second time this season the Canton, N.C., native did not record points - the other came at then No. 3 Texas ... Robinson remains seven made 3-pointers shy of tying former Catamount standout - and current assistant coach - Anquell McCollum (245, 1993-96) on WCU's career 3-pointers made chart with 238.