Final Stats |   

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - For the fourth time in the last six seasons, the Western Carolina men's basketball season came to an end at the hands of the Terriers of Wofford College. In a rematch of the 2014 Southern Conference Championship game, the Terriers downed the Catamounts 73-61 in the semifinals of the 2015 Southern Conference Championships in Asheville, N.C.

Senior James Sinclair led the Catamounts with 16 points and seven rebounds in his final game wearing the Purple & Gold. Fellow senior Kenneth Hall played 18 minutes while scoring four points and swatting one shot. The pair have seen the Catamounts advanced to a pair of Southern Conference Championship games in their career and have both marked their name in the WCU record book.

The Terriers used a strong shooting performance (55.3%) and a well-balanced attack to down the Catamounts. Four Terriers reached double-figures and seven had at least one assist.

Junior Torrion Brummitt added 12 points and five rebounds to the Western Carolina effort while junior Mike Brown collected a team-high 12 rebounds while scoring nine points.

The win moves Wofford into Monday's championship final for the second-straight year, while the loss drops Western Carolina to 15-17 on the season.

Both teams came out strong on the defensive end of the floor, combining for just nine points heading into the game's first media timeout. The teams traded baskets in an early back-and-forth affair, before back-to-back threes opened Wofford's largest lead of the contest at 15-10 heading into the under-12:00 media timeout. Western Carolina used a quick four points out of the timeout to cut the Wofford lead to one at 15-14, but a basket by Lee Skinner pushed the Terriers lead back to three with just under ten minutes to go in the half.

The teams traded three-pointers before Skinner finished off the three-point play to give Wofford the six-point advantage, before Hall cut the lead back to four before the teams went to the bench for the under-8:00 timeout. Wofford extended its lead to eight with 5:24 left in the half after four points by Spencer Collins, before pushing it to 10 on a layup by Skinner. Western Carolina ended a three-minute scoring drought with a basket by Brown to cut it back to eight with 4:24 remaining, but Wofford pushed the lead back to ten at 31-21 heading into the final timeout of the half.

The teams then traded baskets until the end of the half, with Wofford holding on to the 35-24 halftime lead. The Terriers shot 57.9 percent in the half while using solid defense to hold Western Carolina to just 32.4 percent in the first. Wofford also went 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the half, compared to just 1-of-2 for Western Carolina.

A three right out of the gate by Rhett Harrelson cut the lead to eight, but a layup by Collins followed by SoCon Player of the Year Karl Cochran's first basket of the game pushed the lead back to 13 with just under three minutes gone. Wofford made three of its next three shots to open its largest lead at 15 points, before a basket by Brummitt cut the lead back to 13. Wofford continued to push on the offensive end, out-scored Western Carolina 10-6 to take a 50-36 lead heading into the under-12:00 media timeout.

The teams traded baskets before a three by Devin Peterson cut the lead to 12. Wofford responded on the other end with a three by Cochran to again push it back to 15. The teams continued to trade baskets, allowing Wofford to hold on to a 14-point lead heading into the under-8:00 timeout.

Western Carolina then held Wofford to a scoring drought of 4:08, forcing three Terrier turnovers, and used a 7-0 run capped off by a three from Harrelson to cut the Wofford lead to 61-52 with 3:53 remaining. The teams then combined for 21 points in the game's final minutes, but Wofford grabbed three offensive rebounds over the last two minutes to stretch out its possessions and used five free throws by Collins to seal the 73-61 victory.

Spencer Collins paced Wofford offensively with 17 points, going 10-of-13 from the free throw line and adding five rebounds. Lee Skinner chipped in 14 points and six rebounds, while SoCon Player of the Year Karl Cochran was held scoreless in the first half, but finished with 11 points, including three three-pointers. Jaylen Allen finished with 10 points for Wofford on 2-of-2 shooting, as well as going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.