Jan. 13, 2011

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina used strong guard play to stretch its current winning streak to three games, shooting past the Elon Phoenix, 70-63, Thursday night in Southern Conference action in the Ramsey Center. Senior Mike Williams paced three backcourt mates in double figures with a game-high tying 19 points in his 15th double-digit scoring outing of the season.

WCU, which won for the sixth-straight time at home dating back to last season, snapped Elon's three-game road winning streak. It was also the Catamounts' fourth-straight home win in the head-to-head series with the Phoenix.

Williams added five rebounds and a pair of steals to compliment his 19 points, while redshirt freshman Trey Sumler finished with 18 points for his sixth-straight, double-digit scoring performance. The Rocky Mount, N.C., native dished out a pair of assists, pulled down four rebounds and had a steal in the win. A third guard, Harouna Mutombo, tallied 10 points with seven rebounds and four assists in the win.

Senior post Richie Gordon just missed double figures with eight points and eight rebounds - six of which came on the offensive end.

Western Carolina (7-10, 3-2 SoCon) took control of the see-saw affair midway through the first half. The back-and-forth opening 20 minutes witnessed five ties and seven lead changes before intermission, with the Catamounts using a 7-to-1 spurt including five points by Williams to claim the lead for good at the 8:24 mark, and pull out to a five-point edge, 22-17, with seven and a half to play before halftime.

Elon pulled back within a point, 22-21, a minute and a half later, but WCU closed the half by outscoring the Phoenix, 10-to-4, to lead by seven at the break, 32-25.

Both teams came out of the halftime locker room shooting, trading buckets through the first five minutes of the second stanza as the WCU lead hovered between four-to-seven points. The two squads even traded 3-point baskets on four-straight possessions with the Catamount advantage ballooning to a game-high nine points in the process.

The Phoenix would not go away, though, as consecutive buckets by Drew Spradlin closed the margin down to just two, 58-56, with six and a half minutes to play in regulation. However, with leading scorer Williams on the bench with foul trouble, Sumler scored the next seven points for WCU to stem the tide and maintain the advantage.

Chris Long sank his lone 3-pointer of the contest with 1:43 remaining to close the deficit to four, but that was as close as Elon would get as WCU managed to hang on from the free throw line, making 3-of-4 in the closing seconds for the victory.

Elon (8-9, 2-4 SoCon) put two players in double figures as Spradlin matched Williams with 19 points including 3-of-6 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Lucas Troutman chipped in 10 points off the bench with freshman Jack Isenbarger scoring eight while Long - Elon's leading scorer entering the game - finished with just five points along with eight assists.

Combined, Western Carolina's top four guards outscored their counterparts from Elon by 20 points, 52-32, in the final tally. The Catamounts limited Elon's top two scorers - Long and Isenbarger - nearly 12 points off their seasonal average entering the game.

WCU also scored 17 points off of 18 Elon turnovers and recorded a dozen second chance points.

Western Carolina wraps up its three-game home stand this Saturday, Jan. 15 as it host arch-rival Appalachian State at 2:00 pm in the Ramsey Center. All Catamount fans are encouraged to wear purple to the game for the "Purple Out" event. The first 500 WCU students through the gates will also receive a special purple "Beat App" T-shirt, presented by the Catamount Peak Apartments and the Catamount Travel Centers.