Feb. 4, 2010

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Five Catamounts scored in double figures as Western Carolina avenged an earlier road loss to Georgia Southern, pulling away from upset-minded Eagles in the second half for an 83-68 win in Southern Conference action. Senior Brandon Giles scored 16 of his team-high 19 points in the opening 20 minutes to pace the Catamounts to their 15th-straight home victory.

Western Carolina (18-5, 8-3 SoCon) scored 48 of its 83 points in the paint en route to the program's record 12th seasonal victory inside the Ramsey Center, eclipsing last season's record of 11 facility wins.

Giles, who was 7-for-9 in the opening 20 minutes Thursday night, was joined in double figures by classmate Adrian Gailliard who scored a career-best 15 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the floor. Harouna Mutombo and Mike Williams each scored 14 points apiece while Jake Robinson chipped in 11 off the bench, playing with a heavily wrapped shooting hand after injuring his right thumb two games ago. Mutombo added seven boards.

Brigham Waginger boarded a team-high eight rebounds, while also dishing out seven assists and swiping five steals in the winning effort while Richie Gordon scored seven points, shooting 3-for-4 from the field.

After Western Carolina managed to build a double-digit lead with four minutes remaining in the first half, Georgia Southern (6-18, 3-8 SoCon) was only able to close to within seven points, 60-53, midway through the second half on a Johntavious Rucker lay-up, his only two points of the contest. However, the Catamounts responded with a 15-to-7 spurt which included slam dunks by both Gordon and Mutombo to surge ahead by a game-high 15 points with just four and a half remaining in regulation.

WCU outrebounded the Eagles, 41-to-37, in pulling out the 15-point victory.

Sophomore Colby Wohlleb led GSU with a career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting including six 3-pointers. He was joined in double figures by Rory Spencer, Willie Powers and Ben Drayton, each with 11 points apiece. Spencer added game highs in nine rebounds and five blocks while Powers dished out seven assists. Tyler Troupe scored nine and boarded seven missed shots.

Antonio Hanson, who torched the Catamounts for six first-half 3-pointers in the first meeting in Statesboro was held to two points and 0-for-5 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Catamounts host arch-rival and divisional foe, Appalachian State, at 3:00 pm on Saturday afternoon in the Ramsey Center. WCU will look to even the seasonal series against the Mountaineers (12-10, 6-4 SoCon) who have dropped two-straight on the season and are just a game and a half in arrears in the division standings.

Post-Game Notes:
- Western Carolina won its 15th-straight home game inside the friendly confines of the Ramsey Center ... All told, the Catamounts have won 25 of their last 27 home games including eight-straight against league foes and 16 of its last 17 SoCon home dates;

- The win was also a Ramsey Center record 12th for WCU, eclipsing the previous facility record of 11 set a season ago ... Over the past two seasons, WCU is 23-2 in Ramsey - a 92-percent winning percentage;

- The 18 seasonal wins for WCU are the most under head coach Larry Hunter and the most for a Catamount men's basketball team since winning 19 in 1981-82 under Steve Cottrell ... It is the third time since moving to the NCAA Division I level that WCU has amassed 18-or-more victories with 19 marking the program's Division I record ... the school-record for wins in a single season is 28 set by the 1962-63 Catamounts under Jim Gudger;

- WCU earned its eighth SoCon victory of the season ... the school-record for conference wins in a single-season is 11 set in 1981-82 and matched a season ago with an 11-9 mark in league play;

- WCU won its second-straight home contest over Georgia Southern after winning in the Ramsey Center a year ago in the teams' only seasonal meeting ... GSU failed to win a road game for the 13th time this season, falling to 0-13 away from Hanner Fieldhouse this season;

- Senior Adrian Gailliard scored both his SoCon and overall career highs with 15 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the floor ... the Sewell, N.J., native's previous career best was 14 points against Toccoa Falls in 2008 and his previous conference high was 13 against The Citadel last February;

- With five steals on Thursday night, senior guard Brigham Waginger has 251 for his career which moves him into third place in the Southern Conference record books for career steals, by-passing Tyson Patterson of Appalachian State (247, 1996-2000) and Derek Rucker of Davidson (250, 1985-88);

- Senior Jake Robinson moved into 26th on WCU's all-time career scoring charts with 1,166 points, by-passing former Catamount standout Casey Rogers (1999-2002) ... Brandon Giles remains 21st on the list but is closing in on 20th with 1,287 career points, just four points shy of Albert Trimier (1,291, 1972-75) and five away from 19th-place Kenny Trimier (1,292, 1980-83);