Box Score

Asheville, N.C. - Deriece Parks scored a career-high 19 points and sophomore Elijah Pughsley chipped in a baker's dozen on Saturday evening, but Western Carolina could not complete the second half rally as UNC Asheville escaped with a hard-fought, two-point, 59-57, victory at Kimmel Arena in the 50th all-time series meeting.

WCU (3-7) shot a season-best 92-percent from the free throw line, connecting on 11-of-12 charity tosses. However, the lone miss came inside the final seconds on a would-be game-tying free throw allowing the Bulldogs to score their fourth-straight seasonal victory while also halting WCU's three-game series win streak.

Midway through the second half, UNC Asheville (8-3) rattled off three-consecutive buckets including a 3-pointer and two lay-ups to grab momentum and a game-best, seven-point lead, 44-37, in the otherwise see-saw affair. WCU responded, though, with an old-fashioned three-point play by Devin Peterson before eventually reclaiming the lead on the second of back-to-back deep 3-pointers by Pughsley.

The two teams continued the nip-and-tuck duel inside the closing two minutes. Peterson forced the game's 15th tie with a pair of free throws before MaCio Teague untied the contest with a pair of charity tosses of his own to give the home squad a 58-56 advantage.

Still down by two with possession inside the game's final 10 seconds, Pughsley was fouled on a drive with four seconds showing. He stepped to the line, hitting one of two to make it a one-point game, 58-57. UNCA's Alec Wnuk then sank one of two free throws on the opposite end of the floor on the ensuing possession with Parks' half court heave at the buzzer connecting on both the backboard and front of the rim before bouncing away in the two-point defeat.

"Today wasn't the best executed game - I think Coach (Nick) McDevitt would probably tell you that both ways. But both teams played hard, really went at each other, and both teams had some chances to take control of the game and win. To their credit, they got it done at the end," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter during post-game comments on the Catamount Sports Network.

Parks dropped in four 3-pointers on the way to his career night while Pughsley sank a pair of triples in his season-high 13 points. Peterson just missed double figures with nine points to accompany five assists, while freshman Adam Sledd scored a career-best eight points and matched his career-high with seven rebounds in his first collegiate start.

Sophomore Marc Gosselin and junior Haboubacar Mutombo paced WCU with nine and eight rebounds, respectively, but were limited to just four combined points offensively.

UNCA's Ahmad Thomas led four Bulldogs in double figures with 20 points while Will Weeks added 13 points -- seven coming on 7-of-15 shooting from the free throw line. Alec Wnuk just missed a double-double, scoring 11 points -- seven from the charity stripe -- with nine rebounds while Teague finished with 10 points.

Saturday's game was tied a total of 15 times and witnessed 11 lead changes with the largest lead of seven coming in the second half by UNCA. The Bulldogs shot 35 free throws as compared to just 12 by the Catamounts, outscoring WCU, 20-to-11, from the stripe.

After wrapping up its season-long, seven-game road swing, the Catamounts open a much-welcomed five-game home stand on Monday night in the back-end of WCU hoops double-header. The Catamount women host Gardner-Webb at 5:00 pm with the men's game against High Point to follow at approximately 7:30 pm.

Both games on Monday are available on television on WMYA-TV, My40. Catamount Sports Network coverage of both games gets underway at 4:45 pm for the women's pregame with the men's pregame show beginning at 7:00 pm. Live streaming audio, as well as live GameTracker, are available online at CatamountSports.com.