Final Stats

Lexington, Va. - In a game that featured big runs by both teams, the Western Carolina men's basketball team handed VMI just its third home loss this season, 85-70, in Cameron Hall Thursday night. Senior James Sinclair led all scorers with 28 points as he came up one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards. He also led the team with four steals and a pair of blocks. Junior Mike Brown added 21 points including a team-high three 3-pointers.

Other notable performances included junior Justin Browning who came off the bench to score 11 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Freshman Tucker Thompson had a career-high 11 rebounds as he came up one point shy of a double-double with nine points. Junior Torrion Brummitt also grabbed nine rebounds and scored six points while freshman Devin Peterson dished out a career-high five assists while scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds.

The Catamounts dominated the glass outrebounding the Keydets 57-29 which helped overcome a 22-14 deficit in turnovers. WCU outscored VMI 40-20 in the paint while the Keydets outscored the Catamounts in points off turnovers 30-12.

The win improves WCU's record to 10-12 overall and 5-5 in Southern Conference play. The Keydets fall to 8-14 overall and 4-7 in SoCon action.

Brown scored the first points of the game nearly three minutes in as both teams combined to go 0-10 from the field to open the game. WCU would go one to outscore the Keydets 13-5 over the next four minutes to take a 16-5 lead with 13:10 left in the first. The lead would eventually balloon to 14 on a Sinclair jumper with 8:11 remaining. VMI would respond with a 20-5 run that featured five WCU turnovers and eight missed shots by the Catamounts. Trailing 34-33, the Catamounts closed out the half with a 7-2 run of its own powered by five points from Brown and a pair from Sinclair.

The Catamounts shot 41.7 percent from the field in the period while going 7-10 at the free throw line. They turned the ball over 14 times and grabbed 31 rebounds. The Keydets shot 33.3 percent from the field and were 7-9 at the charity stripe. They had turnovers and 17 rebounds.

The second half began with a Rhett Harrelson 3-pointer on the very first possession of the period. Both team hit shots on their opening two possessions as the WCU lead stayed at four points. The Keydets eventually cut the lead to three with 17:36 to play on a 3-pointer from Jordan Weethee. Following the three, WCU scored 15 unanswered points to take an 18-point lead. WCU turned the ball over just once in the run while Sinclair scored seven of the 15 points.

Just under a minute later, the Keydets began a 22-5 run that lasted just over five minutes. The Catamounts turned the ball over seven times in that five minute span as the Keydets took advantage. A pair of Thompson free throws pushed WCU's lead back to three and started another run for the Catamounts as they scored nine unanswered points, five of which came from Thompson at the free throw line. After a VMI jumper, WCU scored another seven unanswered points to close out the game., 85-70.

WCU shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half while going 12-16 at the free throw line. The Catamounts turned the ball over 10 times and grabbed 26 rebounds. VMI connected on 34.3 percent of its shots and was just 3-8 at the free throw line. The Keydets had seven turnovers and 12 rebounds.

The Catamounts will get one day of rest before returning to action Saturday at UNCG. The game is scheduled to begin at 5 pm and will be carried on the Catamount Sports Network and the SoCon Digital Network.