Jan. 7, 2012

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Keaton Cole matched his career-high with six made 3-pointers, pacing four Catamounts in double figures as Western Carolina downed the Wofford Terriers, 67-57, on Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference action in the Ramsey Center.

The win halted a two-game slide for the Catamounts, while also ending Wofford's two-game win streak which included victories at Wake Forest and over South Division favorite, the College of Charleston.

Cole's six made 3-pointers - four coming in the first half - were all the Catamounts would get on 6-of-13 (46.2%) shooting from beyond the arc. Cole added four free throws for a career-best 22 points while redshirt sophomore Trey Sumler chipped in a dozen wit eight defensive rebounds and four assists.

Harouna Mutombo and Preston Ross scored 11 and 10, respectively, while Brandon Boggs just missed double figures with nine points, adding four boards with sophomore Tawaski King pulling down nine rebounds to pace the Catamounts on the afternoon.

Western Carolina (8-8, 3-1 SoCon) never trailed on Saturday afternoon and led for all but 27 seconds after Wofford's Karl Cochran tied the game with a 3-pointer just two minutes into Saturday's contest. The Catamounts built a double-digit lead at 10 points, 19-9, midway through the opening stanza. Cole's fourth trey of the opening half handed WCU a nine-point edge with seven to play before intermission, carrying an eight-point, 34-26, edge into halftime.

WCU pulled out to a 12-point lead after back-to-back slam dunks from Ross and Mutombo inside the opening moments of the second half. But the Terriers used a 9-to-1 spurt to claw back within three, 41-38, on a steal and slam by Cochran.

The Catamounts were able to put the clamps on the Terrier run and rebuild a double-digit edge, matching its game-high lead of 12 points, 55-43, on a Mutombo jumper with seven minutes remaining in regulation. Wofford was only able to get within five points down the stretch as the Catamounts connected on 8-of-11 from the charity stripe to score the victory.

Wofford (9-7, 2-2 SoCon) put two players in double figures as Cochran and Brad Loesing both scored 20 points. Kevin Giltner scored eight points on just 3-of-14 shooting with just two other Terriers scoring in the loss.

Despite being outrebounded by four, 38-to-34, the Catamounts outscored the Terriers in the paint, 30-16.

Western Carolina returns to action next Thursday, Jan. 12, as it visits the Davidson Wildcats. The Catamounts claimed the only seasonal meeting between the two squads a year ago in Cullowhee, and won the most-recent road meeting in the series, 77-67, two seasons ago. Tip-off in the Belk Arena is set for 7:00 pm.

Post-Game Notes:
- Western Carolina improved to 23-18 all-time in the head-to-head series with Wofford, halting a three-game slide to the Terriers with the 10-point win on Saturday afternoon ... the Catamounts improved to 13-8 against Wofford inside the Ramsey Center, winning for the sixth-straight time over the Terriers at home;

- WCU snapped a two-game losing drought with Saturday's victory;

- All told, the Catamounts have won 42 of their last 48 home games including 28 of the last 32 Southern Conference games in Cullowhee ... Over the past three seasons, WCU is 40-5 (.889) at home ... During head coach Larry Hunter's tenure, the Catamounts are 63-20 (.759) at home over the past seven years;

- Senior Keaton Cole led the Catamounts with a career-high 22 points including matching his career-best for 3-pointers made with six - doing so for the second-consecutive game ... Cole ranks 10th in WCU school-history for career 3-pointers made, four shy of Terry Boyd in ninth;

- With 11 points on Saturday afternoon, Harouna Mutombo now has 1,317 in his four-year career at Western Carolina to continue to rank 20th in school history ... the Pickering, Ontario, Canada native is just seven points shy of 19th-place Dave Jones (1,324 points from 1957-60).