Final Stats

Birmingham, Ala. - The Western Carolina men's basketball team trailed for most of the game Saturday night in Birmingham, Ala., as the Samford Bulldogs took advantage of 20 WCU turnovers and a strong performance at the free throw line to take a 78-72 victory at home. Senior James Sinclair led all scorers with 26 points against the Bulldogs but it was not enough as Samford went 26-28 at the free throw line including 21-22 in the second half to keep the Catamounts at bay.

Sinclair was 12-20 from the field including just 2-8 from 3-point range. He grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists as well. Junior Justin Browning, who was returning to his home state, came off the bench to score 12 points for the Catamounts as he grabbed five rebounds and led the team with four steals.

Junior Mike Brown added 11 points, three rebounds and two assists while junior Rhett Harrelson, who also calls Alabama home, chipped in 10 points and three assists.

The Catamounts were able to handle Samford's press early in the game but as the night wore on the pressure began to force mistakes on the WCU end as the five Catamount starters combined for 15 turnovers. The Bulldogs took advantage of the Catamount mistakes as they scored 24 of their 78 points off turnovers.

The win is just the second for Samford in league play this season. The Bulldogs improved their record to 9-14 overall and 2-8 in conference play. The Catamounts fall to 9-12 overall and 4-5 in SoCon action.

Both teams came up empty on their opening three possessions. Harrelson ended the scoreless game with a 3-pointer at the 18:17 mark. The Bulldogs immediately answered with a three of their own and the back-and-forth action began. The score would remain within one possession until a 3-pointer by Christen Cunningham gave the Bulldogs a four-point lead with 7:23 left in the first. A 4-0 run by the Catamounts tied the game at 22 with 3:50 left on the clock but that would spark a 9-0 run by the Bulldogs which opened up the game for Samford just before halftime. Browning hit a layup with 50 seconds left in the period and the Catamounts forced a missed 3-pointer by the Bulldogs with under 15 seconds on the scoreboard. Harrelson hit his second 3-pointer of the game to close out the half as the buzzer sounded. The Catamounts entered the locker room trailing 35-30.

The Bulldogs were able to hold off the Catamounts the entire second half but the lead only reached double-figures on one occasion, 61-51. Trailing by eight with a minute to play, the Catamounts began a comeback. Sinclair hit a jumper to cut the lead to six and he was fouled. He missed the free throw but Browning was able to steal the ball away from the Bulldog rebounder and was fouled. Browning went 1-2 at the charity stripe to cut the lead to five. After a timeout, the WCU defense forced the Bulldogs to lose the ball out of bounds and Sinclair nailed another jumper to make it a one possession game with 39 ticks on the clock.

After a pair of Samford free throws, Sinclair again answered the call with a jumper. Samford again went 2-2 at the charity stripe and Sinclair knocked down a three to cut the lead to just a pair of points with 19 seconds remaining. As they did the entire night, the Bulldogs nailed two more free throws and Sinclair was unable to connect from outside. Two more Bulldog free throws pushed the lead to six with seven seconds left and WCU turned over the in-bounds play as time expired.

Samford was led by Darius Jones-Gibson who scored 19 points. Michael Bradley added a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Three other Bulldogs scored in double-figures including Cunningham, Marcus Johnson and Tyler Hood.

The Catamounts will be back on the road this Thursday as they head to Lexington, Va., for a battle with VMI. The game is set for 7 pm.