Final Stats |   

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina men's basketball team fell by the slimmest of margins Thursday night to conference foe The Citadel inside the Ramsey Center. The Bulldogs pulled off a 92-91 victory over the Catamounts snapping an eight-game win streak for WCU in the series. The Catamounts trailed for much of the second half before pulling ahead late but missed free throws down the stretch cost the Catamounts a home victory.

WCU falls to 7-12 overall and 2-4 in SoCon play while the Bulldogs improved to 9-10 overall and 2-4 in conference action.

As a team, the Catamounts shot just 48.1 percent from the charity stripe including going 11-of-22 from the line in the second half.

The Catamounts placed five scorers in double-figures led by freshman Elijah Pughsley who scored a career-best 26 points as he nailed seven 3-pointers in the game. Sophomore Haboubacar Mutombo had a breakout game off the bench as he recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds both of which were career-highs.

Senior Rhett Harrelson added 12 points and four assists while senior Justin Browning played in just the second half and scored 12 points in 17 minutes of action while leading the team with four steals. The final Catamount in double-figures was senior Mike Brown who chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Freshman Jesse Deloach made a strong appearance off the bench with seven points and six rebounds in just 10 minutes of action.

The Catamounts had a season-high 59 points off the bench and out-shot the Bulldogs 49.3 percent to 43.5 percent.

WCU jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead out of the gate but the Bulldogs answered with a 10-0 run of their own. The first half would go back-and-forth with The Citadel eventually carrying a 41-39 lead into the break.

Just four minutes into the second half the Bulldogs had built their lead to 11 and they would lead until a 16-5 by the Catamounts gave WCU a 79-77 lead with 6:26 left to play. After an old-fashioned 3-point play by the Bulldogs, the Catamounts eight-straight points to extend their lead to seven with just 4:13 left on the clock.

The Bulldogs would eventually whittle the lead down to one with 1:03 left. A turnover on WCU's next possession gave the Bulldogs the ball with 48 seconds left on the clock and down one. The Bulldogs would miss a layup with 28 ticks left but the rebound went out of bounds off a Catamount giving The Citadel the ball with the shot clock turned off. It looked as if the Bulldogs would milk the clock for a final shot but Browning intercepted the inbounds attempt and was immediately fouled.

Browning nailed both his free throws to put the Catamounts up three with 25 ticks left. The Citadel quickly scored and cut the lead back to one with 13 seconds left. WCU inbounded the ball to Harrelson who was trapped on the sidelines and called timeout with just 10 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs defended the ensuing inbound well but WCU found Pughsley who was fouled with eight ticks remaining. Pughsley was unable to convert either of his two attempts which gave The Citadel the ball down one with under 10 seconds to play.

P.J. Boutte drove to the lane and was fouled with just over one second to play. He nailed both free throws to put the Bulldogs ahead for the first time since the 6:15 mark of the second half. WCU threw the ball three-quarters of the way down the court where a Bulldog defender knocked the ball out with .4 remaining. The ensuing inbound found Brown who was unable to get off a shot in time as The Citadel took a 92-91 victory.

The Bulldogs were led by Quinton Marshall who scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds. Tim Broom added 15 points off the bench while Quayson Williams and Derrick Henry had 13 and 12 points, respectively.

The Catamounts will next be in action on Sunday afternoon against Mercer at 1 pm. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday but due to the impending winter storm the game was moved to Sunday inside the Ramsey Center.