Final Stats |   

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - For the second time this season, the Western Carolina men's basketball team has had to go to overtime to secure a home Southern Conference victory. The Catamounts downed the visiting Bears of Mercer University 86-80 for their third conference win of the season. WCU led by 10 points with 1:16 left in regulation but a frantic comeback by the Bears sent the game to overtime. It would take two extra periods to determine a winner as senior Mike Brown scored six of WCU's 13 points in the second overtime to earn the victory.

The Catamounts improve to 8-12 overall and 3-4 in SoCon play while the Bears fell to 14-6 overall and 4-3 in league action.

Brown led the Catamounts with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists. He was 13-of-14 at the charity stripe and nailed a pair of shots from long range. Freshman Elijah Pughsley made his first career start and scored 16 points while dishing out two assists. He was 5-of-8 from 3-point range and scored WCU's first nine points of the game.

Senior Rhett Harrelson chipped in 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting including four from 3-point range. Harrelson scored nine points over the two overtime periods including hitting a huge jumper in the second overtime that put the Catamounts up by four.

Senior Justin Browning fouled out after playing 39 minutes and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Torrion Brummitt missed time late in the game due to injury but finished with eight points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes of play.

Freshman Jesse Deloach had another strong outing off the bench as he finished with six rebounds and a block.

The Catamounts led early in the opening period as Pughsley opened the game 3-or-3 from downtown. The Bears would claw their way back into the game and eventually used a 6-0 spurt near the end of the opening half to take an eight-point advantage. After a Haboubacar Mutombo layup with 37 ticks left, Mercer answered with its own layup top take a 32-24 lead into the break.

The Bears went 13-of-26 from the field in the opening period while limiting the Catamounts to 23.3 percent shooting.

The tables turned in the second half as the Bears shot just 36.4 percent and WCU connected on 57.1 percent of its shots. Mercer would take its largest lead of the game at the 14:49 mark as the Bears went ahead 44-33. A 27-4 run by the Catamounts completely flipped the script as WCU led 60-48 with just 2:39 to play. The lead would remain in double-figures until the 1:07 mark when a layup by the Bears cut the advantage to 64-56. The Bears would then hit three-straight 3-pointers including a four-point play on the last attempt due to a Catamount foul which tied the game at 66 with 35 seconds left to play. WCU missed on two game-winning attempts in the final seconds of play which sent the game to overtime.

The overtime period began with a 3-pointer from Harrelson but the Bears quickly answered with a three of their own. The Bears took a four-point lead after a free throw and a 3-pointer on their next two possessions. A Brown jumper with 2:36 left cut the deficit to two and Harrelson tied the game at 73 with 1:19 to play. Neither team scored in the final minute of the first overtime period as the game went to a second extra stanza.

The Catamounts once again opened the extra period with a three as Pughsley connected from long range. After a Mercer layup, Brown would score four-straight points to put the Catamounts ahead by five. The Bears answered with a 3-pointer but a jumper by Harrelson put the Catamounts back ahead by four with 38 seconds left. After a Mercer turnover, Brown hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to six with 32 seconds left. The lead would eventually balloon to eight on a pair of Harrelson free throws before the Bears hit two free throws to come to the final tally of 86-80.

Mercer was led by Jestin Lewis who scored a game-high 27 points while collecting six rebounds. Stephon Jelks finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for Mercer.

The Catamounts will now hit the road for four-straight contests beginning on Thursday against Furman. WCU will travel to the Paladins on Jan. 28 for a 7 pm game.