Final Stats |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina University men's basketball team won for the sixth-straight time against the Spartans of UNCG Saturday afternoon. The Catamounts led by as many as 19 points in the game as they completed a 82-72 victory. Junior Mike Brown poured in a career-best 27 points in the win while also leading the Catamounts in rebounds, assists and blocks. Brown was 8-12 from the field including 2-5 from 3-point range while going 9-14 at the charity stripe.

Brown led a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Catamounts. Juniors Torrion Brummitt and Rhett Harrelson each chipped in 15 points while freshman Devin Peterson added 12. Brummitt was 4-8 from the field, 1-1 from 3-point range and 6-7 at the charity stripe. The 3-pointer was the first of his career. Brummitt also added six rebounds, two assists and a steal. Harrelson was 4-13 from the floor, 4-7 from three and 3-4 at the free throw line. He tied for the team lead in assists with three while also collecting two rebounds. Peterson, making the second start of his career, tied his career-high with 12 points, set a new career-high with four rebounds and dished out two assists.

Freshman Tucker Thompson played valuable minutes off the bench as he scored six points in 18 minutes. He also tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven.

The win improves WCU's record to 8-9 overall and 3-2 in Southern Conference play. The Spartans of UNCG fell to 5-13 overall and 1-4 in SoCon action.

The Catamounts shot 50.0 percent (26-52) from the field, 52.6 percent (10-19) from 3-point range and 62.5 percent (20-32) from the charity stripe. WCU's aggressive defensive style limited the Spartans to 35.0 percent (21-60) shooting from the field, 29.2 percent (7-24) from 3-point range and 76.7 percent (23-30) from the charity stripe.

Both teams combined to take 62 free throws as 50 fouls were called throughout the game. WCU had one player foul out and three others end the game with four fouls. The Spartans also had a player foul out and had two others with four fouls.

The Spartans opened the game with a 5-0 run as the Catamounts went 0-4 on their first four shot attempts. A 3-pointer by Harrelson ended the run and the game would remain a one-possession contest until a layup by Brummitt pushed WCU's lead to four points with 11:04 left in the first half.

Leading by three with 7:46 to play, the Catamounts began an 11-3 run that started with a Brummitt layup. After the layup, junior Justin Browning stole UNCG's inbounds pass and found Harrelson at the top of the key. Harrelson drained the 3-pointer which opened up an eight-point advantage for the Catamounts. UNCG was forced to use a timeout following the spurt. Following the timeout, both teams struggled offensively but eventually UNCG found a layup to cut the lead to six but that is when Brummitt connected on his very first 3-pointer of his career to put the Catamounts ahead by nine. After a free throw by the Spartans, Peterson hit the first 3-pointer of his career to push WCU's lead to 11. The lead would eventually balloon to 13 points with 15 seconds to play but a jumper at the buzzer sent the Catamounts into the locker room with a 38-27 edge.

The team went back-and-forth to open the second half but with 15:50 left on the clock the Catamounts began an 11-2 run that was powered by Brown, Peterson and Thompson. Brown scored five points in the spurt, Peterson had four and Thompson chipped in two. That run opened up an 18-point advantage for the Catamounts with 11:47 remaining in the game. Nearly six minutes later, Thompson would hit a layup to give WCU its largest lead of the game at 70-51.

UNCG responded with 15-5 run of its own to cut WCU's lead to single digits at 75-66 with 2:31 to play. The Spartans would get as close as seven points in the final minutes but WCU hit its free throws and hung on to win 82-72.

UNCG was led by center RJ White who scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and swatted six shots. Kayel Locke added 19 points and six boards to the effort as well.

The Catamounts will be back in action this Thursday, Jan. 15 as they host ETSU. The Buccaneers defeated the Catamounts earlier this season in Johnson City, 96-89.