Final Stats |   

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - With just 16 seconds left in the game, junior Mike Amius of the Western Carolina men's basketball team sunk a pair of free throws to put the Catamounts ahead 70-68 over the visiting Mocs of Chattanooga. The Catamount defense held up on Chattanooga's final possession and captured the two-point victory for WCU. Senior Deriece Parks led the WCU attack with 17 points while Amius added 12 points and six rebounds.

Amius was limited to just 19 minutes of action after picking up three fouls in the opening 20 minutes. The junior was held out of the second half until the 9:17 mark of the period and came in to score eight points in the final nine minutes including six at the free throw line. Amius had a team-high two blocks to go along with his points and rebounds.

Parks scored all 17 of his points in the second half as he knocked down four 3-pointers and dished out three assists.

The Catamounts placed four scorers in double-figures as junior Marc Gosselin added 14 points, six rebounds and four steals. Freshman Matt Halvorsen came off the bench to bury three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points in the victory.

Senior Devin Peterson came off the bench and dished out eight assists including assisting Parks on all four of his 3-pointers. The senior had just one turnover in his 28 minutes of action as he continued to improve on his impressive assist-to-turnover ratio. He now has 64 assists this season and just 27 turnovers.

The Catamounts shot over 80 percent from the free throw line for the second-straight contest as WCU connected on 13 of its 16 attempts at the charity stripe, good for 81.3 percent. Overall the Catamounts shot 48.0 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from three while the Mocs hit 47.9 percent of their shots including 47.8 percent from downtown.

The Mocs edged the Catamounts on the boards 29-28 after WCU out-rebounded Chattanooga by 19 in the first meeting this season.

Nat Dixon led the UTC effort with 21 points. Makale Foreman and Makinde London each added 12 points while Rodney Chatman and David Jean-Baptiste had 11 points apiece.

WCU jumped out to a quick 4-0 start but the Mocs quickly responded and tied the game at six just minutes later. The Catamounts would again go up by four before the Mocs swung the momentum their way with a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 14-12.

The Catmounts and Mocs traded the lead throughout the opening 20 minutes but it was a Gosselin 3-pointer with 1:51 left in the period that provided the halftime margin, 29-28 in favor of WCU. Neither team scored in the final 1:50 of the half as WCU carried the slight edge into the locker room.

WCU scored the first basket of the second half but it sparked a 6-0 run by the Mocs that switched the lead back to Chattanooga. A quick 6-0 run by Parks as he hit back-to-back 3-pointers swung the momentum back to WCU with just over 16 minutes to play.

The Mocs retook the lead two minutes later on a Jean-Baptiste 3-pointer but Parks answered again with his third 3-pointer of the half.

The Catamounts held onto the lead until the 9:17 mark when a pair of Jean-Baptiste free throws gave UTC a one-point edge. The Mocs held the lead for just over three minutes until a 3-pointer by Halvorsen gave WCU a 57-56 edge with 6:08 left in the game.

The lead would remain a one-possession affair the rest of the way. With 1:54 left in the contest, Parks hit his fourth three of the period to give WCU a 65-63 lead. Dixon answered with a three on the other end to retake a one-point edge for UTC with 1:22 left. Amius responded with an old-fashioned 3-point play on WCU's end to gaive the Catamounts a two-point edge with 1:04 left.

Dixon nailed a jumper with 36 ticks left on the clock to tie the game at 68. With just over 20 second left in the game, Amius drove to the basket and was fouled with just 16 seconds remaining. The junior nailed his two free throws to give WCU a 70-68 lead.

After at UTC timeout, the Mocs looked for a 3-pointer before deciding to drive the ball to the basket. Jean-Baptiste missed the runner but was able to collect his own rebound to fire up a desperation floater at the end that did not find the mark.

The Catamounts will host Samford University this Saturday, Feb. 3 at 7:30 pm inside the Ramsey Center. Head coach Larry Hunter will be seeking his 700th career win on the sidelines as he looks to join an elite group of college basketball coaches.