Final Stats

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina men's basketball team never trailed Wednesday afternoon inside the Ramsey Center but the visiting Lions of Mars Hill kept the game close before a late run pushed the lead out of reach, 87-71. A pair of Catamounts surpassed their career-highs in points while four scored in double-figures. WCU dished out a season-high 20 assists as a number of unselfish plays led for wide-open baskets for the Catamounts.

WCU finishes the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 5-8 record which matches last season's record at the beginning of conference play. The Lions of Mars Hill fall to 3-8 on the season with the loss.

For the second-straight contest junior Ashley Williams and freshman Adam Sledd turned in career-highs. Williams, who made his first career start, poured in a game-high 24 points including three 3-pointers while Sledd nearly turned in back-to-back double-double performances with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Sophomore Marc Gosselin was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field as he scored 14 points. He is the first Catamount to go 100 percent from the floor with a minimum of five attempts since Mike Brown went 7-for-7 against Niagara in 2013. Gosselin added four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal to his total.

The final Catamount in double-figures was sophomore Elijah Pughsley who scored 12 points all of which came from beyond the 3-point line. Pughsley also had four rebounds in the victory.

Senior Kyle Rhoades came off the bench to play 13 minutes and dish out a team-high five assists. He also scored a pair of points and made two steals. Freshman Onno Steger also sent out a couple of helpers as he had four assists to go along with his seven points, four rebounds and a team-high three steals.

WCU had a tremendous second half shooting 75.0 percent (21-28) from the field including an outstanding 83.3 percent (5-6) from 3-point range. The Lions on the other hand shot just 40.7 percent (11-27) from the field in the second half and 28.6 percent (4-14) from long range.

Overall WCU shot 57.6 percent (34-59) from the field in the game and held MHU to just 34.4 percent (21-61).

The Catamounts won the rebounding battle 40-34 but fell in turnovers 19-18.

WCU opened the game on an 18-4 run including 10 points from Williams and eight from Sledd. The Lions would respond with an 11-2 run of their own to cut the lead to just five. The lead would remain in the single digits the rest of the first half. With WCU up 35-27 with 1:32 left in the period, the Lions closed the half with a 6-0 run including a layup as time expired to cut the advantage to just two, 35-33.

The second half saw the lead stay within single digits for the opening eight minutes. Leading just 52-50 with 12:22 left in the game, WCU went on a 10-0 run including four points from Sledd, three from Williams and three from Pughsley. The lead would never fall below six points the rest of the way as WCU shot lights out in the second period. A 13-2 run by the Catamounts late in the second half blew open the game giving WCU a 17-point lead with 2:04 left in the game. The Catamounts would hold the advantage down the stretch closing the game with an 87-71 advantage.

WCU will take two days off before returning to action against preseason favorite Chattanooga at 2 pm New Year's Eve inside the Ramsey Center.