Nov. 25, 2011

Box Score |   

South Padre Island, Texas - Brandon Boggs scored a career-high 35 points including 31 in the second half alone to lead Western Carolina, but Northern Colorado pulled away in the second half to hand the Catamounts a 74-57 loss in the 2011 South Padre Island Invitational held at the SPI Convention Center.

Connor Osborne scored a career-high 16 points while Mike Proctor and Tate Unruh added 10 points apiece for Northern Colorado which scored its first victory of the season.

Western Carolina concludes tournament play on Saturday afternoon with a 1:00 pm CT (2:00 pm ET) tip-off against Florida A&M. The Rattlers nearly rallied back from a double-digit deficit against the Southern Jaguars early on Friday before falling 64-61.

Boggs connected on a career-best 12 shots including a benchmark-setting five 3-pointers for Western Carolina, which dropped its third-straight game in the Invitational. He was the only Catamount to reach double figures as post classmate Tawaski King finished with seven points and seven rebounds. Senior Keaton Cole chipped in six points while Kenneth Hall - playing in his home state of Texas - blocked a pair of shots in the post.

The Catamounts' leading scorers entering the game - Harouna Mutombo and Trey Sumler - were limited to just seven points on 3-of-21 shooting in the loss. Sumler did swipe four steals and dish out a pair of assists.

Western Carolina (2-4) managed a three-point, 7-4, lead at the 16:16 mark of the first half on a jumper by Boggs. However, it would be the only Catamount field goal for nearly eight full minutes until Cole drained a 3-pointer with 8:23 remaining in the opening half. Northern Colorado used a 12-0 run during that same span, allowing the Bears to build a nine-point cushion.

During the eight-minute WCU drought, the Catamounts missed eight shots and committed three turnovers. Yet, Cole's trey closed the gap to just a six point deficit. Northern Colorado outscored WCU, 10-to-6, to close the half with a 10-point, 26-16, edge at halftime.

In the second half, Northern Colorado methodically stretched its advantage, pulling out by 19 points just five minutes into the closing 20 minutes. WCU only managed to trim the deficit to 14 on three separate occasions, but the Bears had the answers to prevent the would-be rallies.

Boggs connected on a jump shot with 8:13 left on the game clock to pull with 14, 52-38. However, UNC countered with a 13-to-6 spurt to take a game-high, 21-point lead three minutes later, and continued to hold off the Catamounts to score the victory.

WCU was outrebounded Friday afternoon 43-to-34, and were outscored in the paint, 36-to-6.

Fans can follow Saturday's finale in the South Padre Island Invitational on the Catamount Sports Network with coverage beginning at 1:30 pm ET / 12:30 pm CT with tip-off at 2:00 pm ET / 1:00 pm CT. Streaming audio through Stretch Internet is available online at www.CatamountSports.com.

Post-Game Notes:
- Western Carolina dropped its first-ever meeting with Northern Colorado ... the Catamounts also remained winless against the Big Sky Conference, falling to 0-2 with losses to Northern Colorado and Montana State (1983);

- WCU's current three-game slide is its longest winless drought since dropping six-in-a-row in early to mid-December a season ago;

- Sophomore guard Brandon Boggs scored a career-high 35 points on Friday afternoon, connecting on a career-best 12 of his career-high 23 field goal attempts ... He also made a career-high five 3-pointers in the loss;

- Boggs' 35 points marks the first 30-or-more point performance by a Catamount since Brandon Giles scored 32 in a two-point, 86-84, loss to the College of Charleston back on 2007.