Final Stats

JACKSON, Miss. - The Western Carolina men’s basketball team used a balanced offensive attack and a strong effort on the defensive end to down host Jackson State for the Catamounts first road victory of the season, 58-47. Junior Haboubacar Mutombo led a group of five Catamounts who scored seven or more points against the Tigers as he dropped in 15 points in the game.

Mutombo was 6-for-9 from the field in the game including 1-of-3 from 3-point range while pulling down five rebounds. He also dished out a team-high four assists while blocking one Tiger shot. Sophomore Elijah Pughsley added 10 points as he was 3-of-4 from the free throw line while grabbing three rebounds.

Sophomore Marc Gosselin and senior Deriece Parks each scored nine points in the contest. They each also had two rebounds and three assists in the game. The final scorer in the group was freshman Onno Steger who chipped in seven points while going a perfect 2-for-2 from the field including making a 3-pointer and going 2-of-2 at the free throw line.

WCU shot a season best 47.6 percent (20-42) from the field including 41.2 percent (7-17) from 3-point range. The Catamounts held the Tigers to just 28.0 percent (14-50) from the field including a dismal 12.5 percent (2-16) from 3-point range.

The victory improves WCU’s record to 2-4 overall while the Tigers of Jackson State dropped to 1-5 on the season.

The Catamounts never trailed in the contest and held the lead for 39 of the 40 minutes played.

WCU opened the game with a 10-2 run over the opening five and half minutes as Mutombo scored four of WCU’s first 10 points. The Catamount’s lead would remain in the single digit region until a layup by Gosselin gave WCU an 18-7 lead with 11:25 left in the first. WCU’s lead would balloon to 14 on two different occasions but a 7-0 run by the Tigers late in the first half cut WCU’s advantage to 27-20 with 1:45 left in the period. Both teams would go scoreless the rest of the half until a jumper by Pughsley gave the Catamounts a 29-20 lead at the break as time expired.

WCU kept the Tigers on the ropes for most of the second half but midway through the period, Jackson State used a 7-0 run to cut WCU’s advantage to just four with 10:54 left in the game. The score would remain the same for nearly four minutes until a pair of free throws by Gosselin push WCU’s lead to six with 7:06 left. After back-to-back scores by the Tigers, Jackson State trailed by just two with 6:02 left in the contest.

Mutombo hit a free throw with 5:40 left to push WCU’s lead to three but a pair of free throws by Jackson State but the result in question at 45-44 with 4:14 left. Steger would answer with a pair of free throws of his own at the 3:49 mark before a dagger 3-pointer by Mutombo pushed WCU’s lead to six with 3:13 on the clock.

The lead would jump to eight on a Jesse Deloach layup with under three minutes to play. The Tigers hit one of two free throws with just over two to play before Parks closed the door with another 3-pointer at the 1:26 mark to put WCU up 55-45. WCU would hang on for the 58-47 victory as time expired.

The Catamounts will now travel north to take on Marquette this Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 8:30 pm.