Final Stats |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Senior James Sinclair of the Western Carolina men's basketball team saved his best performance for his final game inside the Ramsey Center as he scored a career-high 40 points as the Catamounts fell to the VMI Keydets 113-111 in double overtime Saturday afternoon. Sinclair had 40 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals in the game and according to ESPN's stat researchers he is the first Division-I player to have at least 40 points, five rebounds and five assists in a game this season.

VMI's Julian Eleby went shot-for-shot with Sinclair and finished with 43 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Eleby scored 17 of his 43 points in the two overtime periods. Eleby and Sinclair are the only two players in the Southern Conference to score over 33 points in a game this season.

Sinclair led a group of five Catamounts who scored in double-figures. Junior Torrion Brummitt also had a career day as he scored 31 points while grabbing eight rebounds. He was 11-15 from the field and 9-13 at the free throw line. His previous career-high was 17 points which he had achieved on two occasions.

Junior Mike Brown added 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists while junior Rhett Harrelson scored 11 points while dishing out four assists. The final double-digit scorer was junior Justin Browning who had 10 points and nine rebounds in the game. Browning, Brummitt and Sinclair were the only three Catamounts to play over 40 minutes in the game while VMI had two players go over the full 40 minutes.

The loss drops the Catamounts' record to 13-15 overall and 8-8 in Southern Conference play. VMI improved to 11-16 overall and 7-10 in SoCon action.

WCU shot 50.6 percent from the field compared to VMI's 45.9 percent, the Catamounts out-rebounded the Keydets 46-40 and won the turnover battled 18-17 but it was not enough to overcome VMI's 20 3-pointers in the game.

The Catamounts controlled the interior, out-scoring VMI 60-26 in the paint but the Keydets out-scored WCU 60-21 from 3-point range. VMI was also able to take advantage of WCU's mistakes as the Keydets won the points off turnover battle 27-10 despite having one more turnover than the Catamounts.

Trailing 46-39 at the half, WCU was able to tie the game and take the lead on old-fashioned 3-point play with 13:31 left in the game. Brummitt was able power his way through a VMI foul as he dunked the ball and made the ensuing free throw to give WCU a 58-57 lead. VMI quickly responded and eventually built up an eight point lead with 9:04 to play.

The Keydets held onto the lead until a 7-0 run powered by Sinclair and Brown put the Catamounts back on top with 1:19 left in regulation. Sinclair buried a jumper then Brown sank a 3-pointer after VMI missed on the offensive end. The final basket of the run came off a Brummitt block. Sinclair collected the rebound and drove the lane where he sank a fastbreak jumper to give WCU an 84-83 lead.

VMI's Eleby nailed a 3-pointer with 23 ticks on the clock to give VMI a two-point advantage. After a VMI timeout, Sinclair missed a jumper which would have tied the game and Eleby collected the rebound. Brown quickly fouled Eleby as eight seconds remained on the clock. Eleby missed the front end of a one-and-one and Browning collected the rebound and found Harrelson. Harrelson brought the ball up the court and fed it to Brummitt who hit a spinning layup to tie the game at 86 with three seconds left on the clock. Eleby was able to get off a last second 3-pointer but it was off the mark as the two teams headed to overtime.

VMI won the jump ball but missed its opening shot. Harrelson was able to drive to the basket and get fouled as he made an acrobatic shot. He knocked down the free throw to give WCU an early three-point lead. The Catamounts eventually extended their lead to five on a Peterson layup with 21 seconds left in the first overtime period. Eleby answered with a 3-pointer on VMI's offensive end with 11 seconds left to cut the lead to two. VMI fouled Peterson on the in-bound and the freshman was able to knock down one of the two free throws to put the Catamounts ahead by three. With three seconds remaining, Peterson went for a steal on Eleby and was called for the foul. The officials determined Eleby was in the act of shooting a 3-pointer which sent the sophomore to the line for three free throws and a chance to tie the game. Eleby nailed all three shots and a halfcourt heave by Harrelson was off the mark as the two teams headed into a second overtime period.

The second overtime started much like the first as Peterson was able to convert a monster and-one dunk to give WCU an early 102-99 lead. Eleby quickly ended that momentum as he hit a 3-pointer to tie the game back up on VMI's first possession. WCU missed three layups on their next possession and sent VMI to the free throw line with a foul. The Keydets sank a pair of free throws to take their first lead of the period. After a WCU turnover, VMI's Brian Brown nailed a 3-pointer to give the Keydets a five-point advantage.

The Keydets would hold the lead until Brummitt converted on another old-fashioned 3-point play with 1:59 left in the second overtime that tied the game at 108. The 3-point play was the start of a 6-2 run by Brummitt which gave the Catamounts a 111-110 lead with 32 seconds left. Eleby was fouled with 12 seconds remaining and knocked down two free throws to swing the one-point advantage back to VMI's side. WCU had one final possession and was unable to get a clean look as Browning tossed up a shot as he was falling that missed the mark and VMI was able to control the rebound with 0.4 seconds left. WCU committed the foul and VMI made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second to end the game, 113-111.

Eleby led the Keydets with 43 points, Tim Marshall added 18 points while Jordan Weethee had 15.

The Catamounts will hit the road for their final two games of the regular season. WCU travels to Furman on Thursday before heading to The Citadel on Saturday. Both games will be carried on the SoCon Digital Network and the Catamount Sports Network.