Dec. 3, 2010

Box Score

Birmingham, Ala. - Mike Williams scored his first career double-double, pacing the Catamounts with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds as Western Carolina rallied from a double-digit deficit but just fell short as Samford held on for the 63-58 win in the Southern Conference opener for both squads Thursday night at the Pete Hanna Center.

Trailing by a game-high 12 points, Western Carolina (4-5, 0-1 SoCon) held Samford scoreless for over 12 minutes spanning the final 5:15 of the first half and the opening seven minutes after intermission as a part of a 16-to-0 run. WCU was able to match its largest lead of the game at four, 29-25, and setting the stage for a see-saw game in the second half with neither team able to lead by more than six until the closing minute.

Williams scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half while also dishing out three assists and matching teammate Keaton Cole's game-high four steals. The Baton Rouge, La., native pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds as a part of his first career double-double. Senior Richie Gordon added eight points while Harouna Mutombo scored seven off the bench and boarded eight misses including four on the offensive end.

Samford (5-3, 1-0) put four players in double figures led by a career-high 14 from Gregg Wooten, who tallied 10-straight points in the second half for the Bulldogs off the bench. Josh Davis and Jeffrey Merritt both tallied 12 points with Andy King finishing with 11 in the winning effort.

After taking an early 4-0 lead on buckets by posts Gordon and Tawaski King, the Catamounts went stone cold from the floor while Samford raced to a 12-point lead on a 20-to-4 run. During that stretch, WCU committed four turnovers and missed 11 of its 12 shots from the field with Williams converting an offensive rebound into a lay-up and hitting a pair of free throws to provide WCU's only points.

WCU's comeback began inside the final minute of the first half as Gordon and Cole both scored inside the last 60 seconds to pull the Catamounts to within eight at intermission, 25-17.

All told, the Catamounts shot an anemic 6-of-27 or 22-percent from the field in the first half with two of the six made baskets coming inside the final minute of the opening stanza.

Holding the Bulldogs off the scoreboard for just over seven minutes out of the halftime locker room, the Catamounts continued their run, knotting the game at 25 on a Williams' jumper with Brandon Boggs connecting on one of two free throws to give WCU the lead, 26-25. With the Cats leading by four, Wooten took over, driving against Western Carolina's tight man-to-man defense to score 10-straight points for the Bulldogs to answer the Catamounts in the back-and-forth battle.

The game was tied six times with 12 lead changes in the second half with Merritt handing Samford the lead for good with a pair of free throws with 3:27 remaining. In the double-bouns the final 3:13, Samford made 11-of-12 free throws over the final 3:27 with a pair of timely 3-pointers to hold off the Catamounts.

Western Carolina plays its sixth game in nine days as it travels to face the Chattanooga Mocs at the McKenzie Arena on Saturday afternoon with tip-off scheduled for 1:00 pm. The game will be broadcast live on SportSouth with Tom Werme and Daymeon Fishback on the call, as well as through the Catamount Sports Network on 920 AM WPTL in Canton and online at CatamountSports.com.