Jan. 22, 2011

Box Score

Charleston, S.C. - Poor first half shooting by Western Carolina coupled with an offensive explosion by The Citadel over the first 20 minutes Saturday night resulted in a 68-46 win for the Bulldogs over the Catamounts in Southern Conference action at the McAlister Field House. Cameron Wells led three Bulldogs in double figures with a game-high 27 points as The Citadel claimed its third-straight victory overall.

Western Carolina was outshot by 46-percent (68%-to-22%) in the opening half as the Bulldogs opened up a 30-point cushion before withstanding the Catamount counter punches in the second stanza. Yet, the first half hole dug by WCU was too much to overcome, relegating the squad to its second-straight loss.

Returning to the line-up after missing Thursday night's tilt at the College of Charleston because of a back injury, redshirt junior Harouna Mutombo was the lone Catamount in double figures with 13 points. The Pickering, Ontario native had been sidelined with back spasms that forced him to miss his first career game due to injury. Mutombo shot 6-of-10 with five rebounds in the loss for the Catamounts.

WCU's prolific scoring guard tandem of Mike Williams and Trey Sumler, who entered the game leading the team averaging double-digits, were limited to a combined 17 points. Sumler finished with nine points and a game-high seven rebounds and three assists while Williams recorded eight points. Junior Keaton Cole chipped in seven points off the bench.

Western Carolina (8-12, 4-4 SoCon) connected on its first two field goals of the game to take an early, 4-0, lead over the Bulldogs just inside of the first two minutes of play. However, the Catamounts would only manage three additional field goals the remainder of the half while The Citadel scorched the nets with 68-percent shooting to lead by 28 at halftime, 43-15.

The Catamounts managed to outscore the Bulldogs in the second stanza, 31-to-25, and would close within 16 with seven minutes to play. Williams completed an old-fashioned three-point play with a free throw to cap nine-unanswered WCU points to shrink the deficit to 57-41. But, a 7-to-1 spurt by The Citadel including five points from the free throw line pushed the margin back to 22 and it would not dip below the 20-point mark the rest of the way.

Helping to mount the second half comeback effort, WCU forced the Bulldogs into 14 turnovers after intermission and slowed the Cadets march to the basket. The Citadel, which had 19 first half field goals, only managed six shots from the floor and were limited to 25 total points.

Wells was joined in double figures by post Mike Groselle with 15 points and Austin Dahn with 13 including a pair of 3-pointers. Zach Urbanus scored six points adding six assists for the Bulldogs.

Western Carolina returns home this Thursday to face the Furman Paladins in the Ramsey Center. The Catamounts have won seven-straight home games dating back to last season including a 5-0 home mark this year. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm.

Post-Game Notes:
- Western Carolina has now lost four-straight games to The Citadel in the overall, head-to-head series and has dropped four-straight meetings with the Bulldogs in Charleston, S.C. ... WCU last won at The Citadel in 2007;

- Western Carolina allowed The Citadel to shoot 58.1 percent, the second-highest field goal by an opponent this season ... the Catamounts also set seasonal lows for points in a game (46), field goals made (17), field goal percentage (17-of-56, 30.4%);

- Redshirt freshman Trey Sumler had his eight-game, double-digit scoring streak snapped on Saturday night, finishing with just nine points ... the Rocky Mount, N.C., native has recorded eight-or-more points in his last 12 games;