Final Stats |   

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina men's basketball team used a dominating first half to hand Chattanooga just its fourth loss of the season and second of Southern Conference play Thursday night inside the Ramsey Center, 67-61. The Catamounts never trailed against the Mocs, who received votes in the most recent AP Top 25 poll and ranked 32nd in the most recent RPI poll. WCU led by as many as 19 points in the opening half and hung on for a six-point victory in the second half.

Senior big men Torrion Brummitt and Justin Browning led the way for WCU as they helped neutralize UTC's big men while doing a large amount of damage on the offensive end. Brummitt finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals while Browning nearly captured a triple-double with nine points, eight rebounds and eight steals. The due helped limit UTC big man Justin Tuoyo to seven points and seven rebounds on 1-of-4 shooting.

Sophomore Devin Peterson stepped into the starting role for hobbled senior Rhett Harrelson. Peterson finished with a career-best 16 points while dishing out two assists. Harrelson came off the bench to score nine points while hitting 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Senior Mike Brown was WCU's only other double-figure scorer as he scored 10 points in 24 minutes as he was limited due to foul trouble.

The win improves WCU's record to 10-15 overall and 5-7 in Southern Conference play while the Mocs dropped to an impressive 22-4 overall and 11-2 in conference action.

UTC was led by a trio of double-digit scorers including Eric Robertson who had 13 points, Dee Oldham who had 11 and Tre'McLean who scored 10.

WCU held UTC to a season-low 19 points in the opening half while forcing 18 turnovers. The Mocs would finish the game with a season-high 26 turnovers which resulted in 31 points for the Catamounts.WCU turned the ball over 20 times in the game including 14 in the second half.

The Catamounts opened the game on a 7-0 run and limited UTC to single digits until the 5:30 mark of the first half when a UTC layup gave the Mocs 10 points in the game. A layup by Brummitt with 1:48 left in the first gave WCU its largest lead of the game, 32-13. The opening half would end with the Mocs trailing WCU 35-19.

A 7-0 run by the Mocs to open the second half cut WCU's advantage to just nine points but back-to-back layups by Brown and sophomore Haboubacar Mutombo reclaimed a double-digit edge for WCU. Another 7-0 run by UTC with just under eight minutes remaining in the game cut the Catamount lead to just six. Brummitt and Brown responded for WCU with back-to-back baskets to retake a 10-point advantage. A few minutes later, an 11-4 run by the Mocs would cut WCU's lead to just four with 44 seconds remaining. WCU would hit enough free throws down the stretch to keep the Mocs at bay as the Catamounts took a 67-61 victory.

The Catamounts will now look to Saturday, Feb. 13, as they host Samford who downed WCU earlier this season in Birmingham 84-68.