Final Stats |   

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The Western Carolina men's basketball had lost 17-straight games to ETSU heading into the Southern Conference Championship quarterfinals Saturday afternoon but that would all be erased as senior James Sinclair led the Catamounts to a 67-61 overtime victory. Sinclair scored 30 points, grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and picked up a career-high six steals as he willed the Catamounts to victory.

WCU will now face a familiar foe in the semifinals as the top-seeded Terriers of Wofford come calling Sunday night at 6 pm. The Terriers have ended the Catamounts season three of the last five seasons with a win in the tournament. Last season Wofford defeated the Catamounts 56-53 in the championship game as they clinched a berth to the NCAA Tournament.

The Catamounts have now advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Championships five of the last six seasons.

WCU led for 40 of the 45 minutes in the game Saturday afternoon and trailed for just 2:36. The other two minutes saw the game tied.

Sinclair notched his fourth career double-double in the victory and hit the 30-point scoring mark for the third time in his career. Junior Mike Brown also picked up a double-double, his third. Brown had 16 points, 10 rebounds and a team-high three assists.

Junior Rhett Harrelson chipped in eight points including a pair of 3-pointers while junior Justin Browning had six points and four rebounds. Senior Kenneth Hall finished third on the team on the boards with six rebounds while scoring three points.

Both teams struggled offensively as the Catamounts shot 33.3 percent from the field and the Buccaneers hit 32.3 percent. The difference in overtime came down to shooting and defense. The Catamounts hit all five of their free throws and were 3-of-5 from the field while the Buccaneers were just 1-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 at the free throw line.

The game featured the top-two scorers in the SoCon. ETSU's Jalen Riley came into the game averaging a SoCon best 20.7 points per game and was averaging 31 points per game over the two meetings with Western Carolina this season. Sinclair was able to hold Riley to just eight points on 2-of-11 shooting. Sinclair, who entered the game ranked second in the SoCon with 19.1 points per game, lit up the arena in the first half as he scored 21 points in the opening stanza.

Western Carolina led by as many as 11 points in the first half but ETSU was able to even the score at 56 with just 38 seconds remaining in regulation.

The first half saw both teams take extended runs in a back-and-forth affair. ETSU scored the first four points to open the game before Western Carolina busted the game wide open. The Catamounts went on a 16-1 run, which included 11 points from Sinclair, lasting almost five minutes to give them a 16-5 lead.

The Bucs responded with an 11-4 run over the next 3:39 to cut the Western Carolina lead to just four points at 20-16. Sinclair would then go on an 8-2 run himself and push the Catamount lead back to double digits at 28-18. The two traded baskets for the remainder of the half as Western Carolina finished the frame with a 35-27 lead.

Sinclair finished the first period with 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting and a 7-for-7 effort from the free throw line. He added six rebounds and five steals in the opening frame.

In the second half, ETSU got two early scores to cut the lead to one possession at 35-32. Western Carolina would take an 11-4 run, with Brown scoring eight points, to start to pull away, taking a 10-point advantage at 46-36 with 12:43 remaining.

ETSU slowly started to chip away at the lead with a 13-4 run of their own. Reshawn Rembert hit a 3-pointer at the 12:23 mark to get things going and Isaac Banks hit a jumper on the next possession. A.J. Merriweather later had a tip-in that cut the lead to just one point at 50-49.

On the next possession, Brown hit a jumper to up the Western Carolina advantage back to three but Merriweather matched it on the other end to cut it back to one. Brown then countered with a jumper and on the ensuing ETSU possession, Browning made the steal and dished the ball to Sinclair, who made it a two-possession game with the uncontested, fast-break dunk.

ETSU made a charge as Riley drilled a 3-pointer with 46 seconds to go to cut the lead to two. After a foul and missed Western Carolina free throw, ETSU grabbed the rebound and Lester Wilson would tie the game on a jumper with 38 seconds remaining at 56 apiece. Sinclair would get one final shot in regulation, following a Western Carolina timeout, but the shot was no good and the clock expired to force overtime.

In overtime, Western Carolina pulled out to a four-point lead on layups by Sinclair and Browning on back-to-back possessions. ETSU cut the lead in half with a pair of free throws by Devin Harris a minute later. Two possessions later Harris was at the line again but made just one of two this time to made it a one-point game.

From there, Western Carolina would go to the line on its next two possessions and make all four free throws, extending the lead to 64-59. ETSU got a quick score from Riley but the Catamounts followed with a score from Browning to extend the lead back to five. ETSU was unable to score on their final possession of the game.

ETSU was led by Wilson who scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds. Rembert added 14 points and four boards while Merriweather had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Western Carolina will now prepare to face Wofford tomorrow evening at 6 pm in the Southern Conference Championship semifinals. WCU is 2-4 all-time against Wofford at the SoCon tournament with its last win coming in the 2012 quarterfinals. The Catamounts and Terriers have met twice in the semifinals (2010, 2011) with Wofford coming out on top on both occasions.