Feb. 26, 2011

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Senior Mike Williams led a trio of Catamounts in double figures with 18 points while classmate Richie Gordon scored a double-double as Western Carolina used a strong defensive effort to upend the College of Charleston, 70-62, in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon in the Ramsey Center, earning a share of the Southern Conference's North Division title.

It is the second time in the past three seasons that WCU has won the divisional title, and the third time in school-history since joining the league in 1977. Finishing tied with Chattanooga - which won in overtime at Samford on Saturday, 77-72 - atop the divisional standings, WCU garners the top seed by virtue of its two-game regular season sweep of third-place Appalachian State.

Western Carolina (17-14, 12-6 SoCon) used stifling defense over the opening 20 minutes, limiting the South Division-leading College of Charleston to 28-percent (10-of-36) shooting from the floor in taking a 12-point, 36-24, halftime advantage.

With WCU ahead by a game-high 15 points early in the second half, the Cougars used a 15-to-4 run to trim the deficit to four, 49-45, with 9:19 remaining. But the Catamounts responded, spurred by six-straight points by Gordon to rebuild the lead back up to 13 points over the next six minutes to put the game out of reach.

"After Thursday, I'm just so pleased with our kids," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter during post-game comments. "They came to practice (Friday). They really worked. They had a resolve about them, and it carried right over to today's game. I just thought we played unbelievably hard today."

Williams added six assists to go along with his 18 points while Gordon finished with 16 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals in his final regular season home game in the Ramsey Center. Harouna Mutombo also scored 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Catamounts, who have won eight of their past nine games.

SoCon Freshman of the Year front-runner Trey Sumler scored eight points, adding six rebounds and four assists in the winning effort.

Willis Hall drained a 3-pointer at the 6:50 mark of the first half to give Charleston a one-point, 21-20 lead. However, Mutombo scored 10 of WCU's next 12 points as the Catamounts used a 12-to-0 run over the next four and a half minutes to grab an 11-point lead, 32-21. Sumler's runner at the halftime buzzer found the bottom of the net to give WCU the 12-point, 36-24, edge at intermission.

Sumler would again find the range to give WCU a game-high 15 point lead, 45-30, at the 16:41 mark, and the Catamount advantage would not dip below eight points until the midway point of the final stanza. The Cougars mounted a 15-to-4 spurt, capped by an offensive rebound stick back by Hall to close the gap to four, 49-45, with 9:19 to play.

Gordon then took over to stretch the advantage back to 10, 55-45, and the lead never got below five points the remainder of the game.

Hall finished with a double-double effort of 21 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Cougars (22-9, 14-4), who have lost twice in a row for the first time this season. SoCon-leading scorer Andrew Goudelock was held to 12 points - matching his second-lowest scoring output of the season on 4-of-19 shooting including 1-for-8 from beyond the arc. Freshman Trent Wiedeman finished with 11 points and Andrew Lawrence scored 10 off the bench for head coach Bobby Cremins.

WCU managed a slim, 38-to-34, edge in points in the paint while the Cougars won the battle on the boards, 47-to-40. CofC had 23 offensive rebounds it converted into 16 second-chance points while Western Carolina - the league's top offensive rebounding club - had 12 offensive boards and eight second-chance points.

Seeded first out of the North Division in next week's SoCon Men's Basketball Championship, the Catamounts await the winner of the No. 4S Davidson vs. No. 5N UNC Greensboro game. WCU will play Saturday, March 5 at 2:00 pm at Chattanooga's McKenzie Arena. WCU swept the regular season meetings with divisional-foe UNCG, and took the lone scheduled meeting with Davidson in Cullowhee, 81-73, back on Jan. 8.

Post-Game Notes:
- Western Carolina won a share of the Southern Conference's North Division with its 70-62 win over South Division leading College of Charleston ... It is the second divisional title for the Catamounts in the past three years, also earning a share of the crown in 2008-09 ... WCU will be the No. 1 seed from the North Division at next week's Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn.;

- Western Carolina won its school-record 12th-game in Southern Conference play on Saturday ... the Catamounts have won double-digit league games five times since joining the SoCon in 1977 and eclipsed the previous program-high of 11 which was accomplished three other times;

- Saturday afternoon's win also locked in the third-straight winning season for the Catamounts marking the first time since 1994-97 that WCU has posted three-consecutive final records at or above .500 - and the first time since 1979-84 (5-straight) that a WCU squad had recorded three-or-more straight winning seasons;

- WCU entered the game leading the Southern Conference - and ranking 33rd nationally - by limiting opponents to 31.2% shooting beyond the 3-point arc ... On Saturday, the Catamounts held the College of Charleston to 22.7-percent (5-of-22);

- Senior Richie Gordon blocked four shots on Saturday afternoon to move into sole possession second place on Western Carolina's all-time career blocked shots ledger, moving past now third-place Tommy Lavelle (1961-64);

- Western Carolina finished the regular season at 11-1 in the Ramsey Center ... All told, the Catamounts have won 38 of their last 44 home games including 26 of the last 30 Southern Conference games in Cullowhee ... Over the past three seasons, WCU is 36-5 (.878) at home ... During head coach Larry Hunter's tenure, the Catamounts are 59-20 (.747) at home over the past six years;

- College of Charleston dropped its second-consecutive game marking the first-time this season the Cougars had lost two-straight games ... WCU held the Cougars to 62 points - it is CofC's third-lowest scoring game of the season (49 at Morehead State, 59 at Clemson) ... Andrew Goudelock was limited to 12 points on 4-of-19 shooting, well below his seasonal average of 23.4 ppg ... Goudelock's 12 points tie his season-low (7 at Morehead State, 12 vs.UNCG).