Final Stats

Nashville, Tenn. - Following a 10-day layoff, the Western Carolina men's basketball team returned to action Tuesday night as the Catamounts faced their third Southeastern Conference opponent of the season in the form of Vanderbilt University. The Catamounts led by three at the half but the Commodores outscored WCU 58-35 in the second half to take a 99-79 victory.

The Commodores dominated at the free throw line and on the boards. VU was 38-43 from the charity stripe while the Catamounts took just 17 attempts from the line while making 11. Vanderbilt held a 34-18 advantage on the glass while scoring 20 second chance points.

Despite WCU being called for just five more fouls on the night, the Commodores outscored the Catamounts by 27 points at the free throw line including 13 in the second half.

Junior Rhett Harrelson started the game going 6-of-6 from the field including 5-of-5 from the 3-point line. His first miss came with 15 minutes to play in the second half. He finished with 22 points to go along with three assists and two steals. Junior Torrion Brummitt added a career-high 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

Juniors Mike Brown and Justin Browning each had 14 points in the loss. Brown added three assists while Browning led the team with five rebounds and four assists while making a pair of steals.

The Catamounts fell to 3-7 on the year while the Commodores improved to 7-2.

WCU shot a season-best 52.6 percent from the field including 62.1 percent in the first half. The Commodores shot 55.3 percent from the field including 69.6 percent in the second stanza.

Harrelson and senior James Sinclair combined to score the first four points of the game as WCU jumped out to an early lead. The Commodores took their first lead at the 16:57 mark as a free throw put Vanderbilt ahead 7-6. Just over a minute later, the Commodores hit a 3-pointer to retake a one-point lead and it would be their final lead of the first half. The Catamounts began an 11-2 run which opened up a 20-12 lead for WCU with just over 13 minutes to play.

A Harrelson 3-pointer with 9:18 to play in the first gave WCU its largest lead of the game at 28-16. The Commodores slowly began to work their way back into the game and a pair of free throws by James Siakam with just over two minutes to play cut the lead to just three. It was the first one possession lead since the 14:33 mark. Brown and Browning held the Commodores off as the half ended. Brown hit a jumper while Browning threw down a dunk to answer VU scores. The half would end with WCU leading 44-41.

The Commodores took back the lead for the first time since the 15:52 mark of the first half with a pair of free throws just under two minutes into the second half. The Catamounts fought back until the Commodores took the lead for good at the 14:31 mark. A 12-0 run that lasted just under three minutes broke open the game for the Commodores as they took a 69-55 lead with 10:22 to play. WCU cut the lead to 10 before Vanderbilt went on a 11-0 run to take the first 20-plus point lead of the game. The lead would remain around the 20-point mark the rest of the game as the Commodores went on to win 99-79.

Vanderbilt was led by Riley LaChance who scored 26 points while Siakam added 20 points and seven rebounds.

WCU will be back in action this Thursday, Dec. 18 at 7 pm. The Catamounts will play host to Wright State and the game will be carried on ESPN3. It will mark just the second home game of the season for Western Carolina.