Final Stats

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Making just its third appearance in a postseason tournament since becoming an NCAA Division I member, the Western Carolina men's basketball team fell on the road at the University of Vermont, 79-74, in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational. The WCU Catamounts were unable to overcome a sluggish first half as the UVM Catamounts nearly led the entire game.

WCU shot just 24.2 percent from the field in the opening half and dug itself a 37-24 deficit at the break. Western Carolina came out in the second half and opened the period with a 15-2 run to tie the game at 39 with 16:43 left to play but the UVM Catamounts answered with an 11-2 run of their own to retake a nine point lead. WCU would cut the lead down to a single possession late in the second half but key shots did not fall as UVM hung on for the victory.

Senior Torrion Brummitt closed out his Catamount career with 20 points, five rebounds and three steals as he connected on seven of 14 shots from the field including going 2-of-3 from 3-point range. Classmate Mike Brown scored 15 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out five assists and took away four steals for WCU as he struggled shooting most of the night hitting just four of 21 from the field.

Senior Justin Browning added 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals as he nailed a career-high three 3-pointers.

Freshman Marc Gosselin played a solid 27 minutes as he scored eight points and collected six rebounds while dishing out three assists. Freshman Elijah Pughsley hit a pair of late 3-pointers to try and get the Catamounts back in the game and finished with seven points, two assists and a steal.

WCU forced 17 Vermont turnovers while only turning the ball over 10 times on the offensive side. Vermont edged WCU on the boards 43-40 but the biggest advantage came at the free throw line where Vermont nailed 29-of-38 attempts while WCU hit 18-of-24.

Western Carolina collected 15 offensive rebounds but only converted that into six second chance points while Vermont had nine offensive boards but scored 14 second chance tallies.

WCU cut the lead to two with 3:47 left in the game. Vermont hit one of two free throws on the other end before WCU had two empty possessions with a chance to tie the game. On its third possession, WCU hit one of two free throws to cut the lead back to two once again before back-to-back 3-pointers including one that was a desperation attempt at the end of the shot clock gave Vermont an eight point advantage with 1:36 remaining.

Western Carolina would not get the game down to a one possession affair the rest of the half as Vermont hung on and hit its free throws down the stretch to take a 79-74 victory.