Jan. 5, 2010

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina opened with a 22-2 run which included 19-straight points and matched both a school and facility record with 17 made 3-pointers Tuesday night as it cruised past Berea (Ky.) College, 124-53, in non-conference action in the Ramsey Center.

The Catamounts needed just over five minutes to build the 20-point lead in disposing of the NAIA-member Mountaineers for the 11th-straight home victory, remaining perfect in the Ramsey Center this season at 8-0. Senior Brandon Giles made a jumper at the 8:59 mark of the first half to push the game above the 20-cushion which the over-matched and under-manned Mountaineers were never able to breach.

All 13 Catamount players that saw action scored in the rout, with five securing double figures led by a WCU career-high 19 points by junior transfer Anthony Phillip. The Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., native also paced the squad with a career-best eight rebounds while dishing out another benchmark with six assists. He was joined in double figures by senior Jake Robinson who drained five of WCU's 17 3-pointers for 15 points, with red-shirt sophomore Harouna Mutombo also scoring 15.

Robinson now stands just 12 made 3-pointers shy of tying WCU's career school-record.

Sophomore Antoine Childs scored a career-best 14 points, hitting on 4-of-5 from the floor, while junior Mike Williams - making his first appearance after missing the past two games with a left ankle injury - scored 10 with three rebounds and three assists.

Other scoring highlights for the Catamounts included senior Brigham Waginger with nine points and six assists without a turnover, with junior Richie Gordon and senior Kendall Russell also scoring eight apiece and both accounting for a pair of steals. Russell boarded six misses including four on the offensive glass. Sophomore Blake Gallagher was perfect from the floor (1-for-1) and the free throw line (5-for-5) for seven points, matching senior teammate Adrian Gailliard.

All told, WCU's bench accounted for 80 of the 124 points, the most for a Catamount squad since tallying 120 against Toccoa Falls a season ago a school-record 133 against the same foe in 2001.

Western Carolina's decisive first half run featured five made 3-pointers on 5-of-6 shooting, and two highlight reel dunks by Gordon on alley oop passes from Waginger and Williams. Phillip made a steal and fast break lay-up to give the Catamounts a first half high, 31-point lead at the 1:19 mark before taking a 28-point, 57-29, edge into intermission.

Out of the halftime locker room, WCU (12-2) methodically pulled ahead by 40 points five minutes into the frame before ballooning the margin to 66 on 18-straight unanswered points over a four-minute stretch.

Western Carolina returns to Southern Conference play this Saturday, Jan. 9 as it visits Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. Tip-off from the Hanner Fieldhouse is set for 3:30 pm. The game will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with a 3:30 pm air time.

Post-Game Notes:
- Western Carolina stretched its home winning streak to 11-straight games which includes seven-straight over non-conference foes ... WCU has also won 21 of its last 23 home games over the past three seasons and improved to 28-5 since 2003 at home against non-league teams;

- WCU tied a school and Ramsey Center record with 17 made 3-pointers, accomplishing the SoCon seasonal-high for the second-time this season after originally setting the record with 17 made treys against Duquesne (11/25/09) ... the mark is also tied for seventh-best single-game record in Southern Conference history with the 2009-10 Catamounts on the ledger now twice;

- Western Carolina finished 17-of-25 from beyond the 3-point arc for 68.0-percent, which is the 10th best 3-point percentage in a game in league history ... The WCU school record (with a minimum of eight made 3-pointers) is 72.7-percent -- Western Carolina vs. Augusta, Jan. 11, 1989;

- The Catamounts scored 67 points in the second half, just four shy of the school-record 71 recorded against Piedmont back in 1971 ... the 71-point margin of victory was also just four points shy of the school benchmark of 75 set against Toccoa Falls (133-58, 11/6/01) ... WCU's 124 points fell just nine shy of the school record for a single-game, 133, scored against Toccoa Falls in 2001;

- Western Carolina improved to 106-3 all-time when scoring 100-points in a game ... It was the Catamounts' first 100-point performance since a 110-67 home win over Tennessee Wesleyan a year ago (12/15/08);

- Jake Robinson made five 3-pointers to give him 233 for his career, just 12 shy of tying for the school's all-time record of 245 held by former Catamount great - and current assistant coach - Anquell McCollum (245, 1993-96);

- Several Catamounts set career highs in the win over Berea ... junior transfer Anthony Phillip set benchmarks with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists - all were his career highs for the purple and gold ... sophomore Antoine Childs set a career high with 14 points off the bench ... red-shirt freshman Sam Smithson set a career-best with six rebounds including four on the offensive end.