Final Stats

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina men's basketball team welcomed in defending Southern Conference Champions Chattanooga Saturday afternoon to open conference play. The Mocs, who returned all five starters from their championship team all of which are seniors, fell behind early but used a 14-2 run late in the opening half to take the lead and the victory. WCU held Chattanooga to its second lowest point total of the season in the 64-48 defeat.

The victory improved UTC's record to 10-3 on the season and gave the Mocs a perfect 1-0 start to SoCon play while the Catamounts dropped to 5-9 overall and 0-1 in league action.

WCU placed three scorers in double-figures led by redshirt junior Haboubacar Mutombo who scored 15 points. Junior Devin Peterson added 11 points off the bench while freshman Adam Sledd continued his strong play of late with 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Mocs had three double-digit scorers as well led by Justin Tuoyo and Greg Pryor who each had 15. Johnathan Burroughs-Cook added 13 points as well. Tuoyo had an all-around performance with a game-high seven blocks and eight rebounds.

The Catamounts struggled to score the ball as they shot just 33.9 percent for the game including 33.3 percent (9-27) in the first half and 34.5 percent (10-29) in the second period. The Mocs also struggled on the offensive end scoring the ball at a 43.1 percent (22-51) clip.

WCU won the rebounding battle (38-31) but holding onto the ball once again proved to be a problem as the Mocs forced 17 WCU turnovers compared to 14 of their own.

After falling behind 2-0 after UTC's opening possession, the Catamounts began a 14-3 run to take their largest lead of the game. The Mocs responded with a 14-2 run of their own which gave UTC the lead with 6:01 left in the first. WCU kept it close the rest of the opening half but a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left gave the Mocs a 32-24 lead at the break.

The Mocs opened the second half with a layup to go ahead by 10 points and they would hold a double-digit lead for most of the period. WCU cut the lead to eight on four separate occasions but that would be as close as the Catamounts would come. An 8-0 run by the Mocs late in the second half gave UTC its largest lead of the game, 60-42, with 4:06 left to play. UTC would coast down the stretch taking the 64-48 victory.

WCU will return to action Monday, Jan. 2 at 7 pm as the Catamounts host Samford inside the Ramsey Center for their second SoCon game of the season.