Final Stats

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Western Carolina men's basketball team suffered its lowest shooting performance of the season Thursday night as the Paladins of Furman University snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 53-49 victory.

The Catamounts shot just 25.8 percent from the field including 19.4 percent in the second half. WCU's starting five combined to go 10-of-56 from the field and 3-of-22 from 3-point range. The Paladins made more free throws (24) than the Catamounts attempted (18) in the game. Furman was 23-of-40 from the charity stripe in the second half alone. The Paladins scored 11 points from the field in the second period and 23 from the charity stripe as they outscored the Catamounts 34-25 in the half.

Junior Mike Brown collected a career-high 16 rebounds as he notched his second career double-double with a team-high 14 points. Senior James Sinclair picked up his third career double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. Freshman Devin Peterson and junior Justin Browning each contributed six points to the effort while redshirt freshman Charlendez Brooks had four.

The Catamounts led by as many as nine points in the first half and carried a 24-19 advantage into the break. Midway through the second half the Paladins went on a 22-2 run that featured 13 made free throws by the Paladins. Furman held a 50-39 lead after the run with 2:43 left in the game. WCU responded with a 10-2 run of its own to cut the lead to just three with seven seconds on the clock but time would run out on the Catamounts comeback as Furman held on to win 53-49.

The Paladins shot just 28.3 percent from the field in the game and 57.1 percent from the free throw line but it was enough to knock off the Catamounts.

Furman was led by Kris Acox who had 12 points and 17 rebounds including 10 on the offensive end. Stephen Croone added 15 points while Geoff Beans had 11.

The Catamounts will be back in action this Saturday at The Citadel for a 1 pm game. The Catamounts defeated the Bulldogs 78-70 back on January 3 in Cullowhee. The Bulldogs are coming off a hard fought 74-73 victory over ETSU Thursday night at home.

WCU needs a win or a VMI loss on Saturday to clinch a spot in the No. 4 versus No. 5 game at the 2015 Southern Conference Tournament presented by General Shale. If ETSU and WCU lose and VMI wins, WCU will lose the three-way tiebreaker and drop to the No. 6 seed. If ETSU wins and WCU and VMI lose, ETSU is the No. 4 seed, WCU is the No. 5 seed and VMI is the No. 6 seed. If WCU wins and VMI and ETSU lose, WCU is the No. 4 seed, ETSU is No. 5 and VMI is No. 6. If WCU and VMI win and ETSU loses, WCU is the No. 4 seed, ETSU is the No. 5 seed and VMI is No. 6.