Final Stats

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Western Carolina men’s basketball team traveled to Greenville, S.C., Saturday afternoon to face a tough Furman Paladins squad who has won 21 of its last 23 home Southern Conference contests. The Paladins came out firing including knocking down 10 first half 3-pointers to take a 100-66 victory over the Catamounts. Freshman Matt Halvorsen led the WCU squad with 15 points including hitting all nine of his free throw attempts.

Senior Ashley Williams added 10 points off the bench to score in double-figures for the third time in the last four games. Junior Mike Amius and freshman Marcus Thomas each had eight points in the loss. Amius chipped in a team-high tying eight rebounds while Thomas scored all eight of his points in just 12 minutes of action.

Senior Charlendez Brooks had one of the best games of his career as he collected a team-high tying eight rebounds while scoring three points. Senior Deriece Parks dished out four assists while senior Devin Peterson had three.

The loss drops Western Carolina to 9-12 overall and 4-4 in SoCon play while the Paladins improve to 15-7 overall and 6-3 in league action.

Furman won nearly every aspect of game including rebounding (43-32), assists (21-9), steals (5-3) and turnovers (WCU 10, Furman 7). The Paladins shot 51.6 percent from the field including 41.7 percent from 3-point range. The Catamounts hit just 34.5 percent of their shots including just 17.4 percent from three.

The Paladins began the game with a 13-0 run in which they missed just three shots. The Catamounts cut the lead to just six a few possessions later but that would be as close as it would get as the hot-shooting Furman squad pulled away and took the 100-66 victory.

The Catamounts will have just one day off before returning to action Monday night against one of the best teams in the Southern Conference in rival Wofford. The Terriers are playing in their new home the Richardson Indoor Stadium and boast one of the best records in the league. Tip-off for Monday night is scheduled for 7 pm.