Final Stats

| Southern Conference Championship Interactive Bracket

CHARLESTON, S.C. - After suffering their worst shooting performance of the season Thursday night at Furman, the Western Carolina men's basketball team responded with their best shooting performance of the season Saturday at The Citadel in a 67-54 victory. The win secured a spot in the No. 4 versus No. 5 game in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Southern Conference Championships presented by General Shale. The Catamounts will take on ETSU at 2:30 pm on Saturday, March 7. If ETSU wins at Mercer today WCU will be the No. 5 seed but if the Buccaneers lose WCU will secure the No. 4 seed.

Four Catamounts reached double-figures in the game as WCU shot 58.7 percent from the field in the game including 60.9 percent in the opening half. Senior James Sinclair led the way with 17 points, seven rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. Juniors Mike Brown and Justin Browning each added 13 points. Brown added four rebounds and four assists while Browning had three rebounds and two steals. The final Catamount in double-figures was junior Torrion Brummitt who had 10 points and five rebounds in the game.

The Catamounts end the regular season with a 14-16 overall mark and a 9-9 Southern Conference record. The Bulldogs fall to 11-18 overall and 6-12 in the SoCon.

The Bulldogs never led in the game as the Catamounts held The Citadel, who came into the game with a SoCon leading 45.9 shooting percentage, to 35.6 percent shooting in the game. WCU dominated the paint, out-scoring the Bulldogs 34-6 inside while out-rebounding them 29-25.

Mike Brown hit the opening jumper of the game to give WCU a quick 2-0 lead. The Citadel tied the game at two on their next possession and that would be the only time the entire game that the Bulldogs would not trail. The Catamounts would score on their opening five possessions which caused The Citadel to burn an early timeout. The Catamounts eventually extended their lead to 12 with 5:46 left in the first half on a layup by Browning. The Citadel was able to cut the lead to eight late in the opening stanza but that would be as close as they would get as the Catamounts took a 34-25 lead into the locker room.

In the second half the Catamounts led by double-digits almost the entire way. The Catamounts largest lead was 16 which happened on four separate occasions. A 3-pointer by The Citadel with less than five seconds left on the clock cut the Catamounts final 16-point lead to 13 as WCU went on to win, 67-54.

WCU will now begin preparations for the 2015 Southern Conference Championships presented by General Shale. The Catamounts will take on ETSU at 2:30 pm on Saturday, March 7 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, N.C.