Box Score

Dec. 12, 2015

Final Stats |   

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Western Carolina men's basketball team fell at Davidson College in its Gotham Classic opening game Saturday night, 87-54. WCU fell behind early in the opening half and was never able to regain the lead as the Wildcats had all five starters score in double-figures.

Senior Mike Brown led the Catamount effort with 15 points and nine rebounds. He added three steals, two assists and a block while fellow senior Justin Browning scored 10 points and grabbed nine boards. Senior Torrion Brummitt added nine points and four rebounds while freshman Marc Gosselin, who made the first start of his career in the game, added six points and three rebounds.

The Catamounts struggled making shots the entire game eventually ending with a 26.6 shooting percentage. The Wildcats on the other hand hit 47.5 percent of its shots including 51.6 percent in the second half.

The loss drops WCU's record to 3-6 on the season while the Wildcats improved to 7-1.

WCU opened its scoring with 3-pointers from Gosselin and Browning in the first half to take a 6-4 lead but the Wildcats responded with an 11-0 run to open up a 15-6 lead which they would not relinquish the rest of the half. The Wildcats took their largest lead of the opening period on a 3-pointer as the half ended, 39-34.

The Wildcats dominated the paint in the opening period out-scoring the Catamounts 18-0 down low. WCU struggled to find its shot inside as they went just 2-15 from inside the 3-point arc but the 3-point shot was another story as the Catamounts connected on 6-14 from downtown. The story was opposite for the Wildcats as they were just 3-15 from 3-point range but connected on 10-15 from inside the 3-point stripe.

The Catamounts went cold from three in the second half hitting just 13.3 percent of its long range attempts. The Wildcats slowly built its lead eventually taking a game-high 33-point advantage with 21 seconds left in the game which proved to be the final score, 87-54.

Brian Sullivan led the Wildcats with 20 points while Jack Gibbs finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

The Catamounts will now return home to face Eastern Washington on Monday night. The Eagles advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season and will mark WCU's second opponent in the Gotham Classic. Tip time is set for 7 pm.