Final Stats

MACON, Ga. - The Western Carolina men’s basketball team traveled to Macon, Ga., for its final road contest of the regular season Thursday night as the Catamounts faced off against Mercer. The Bears used a late first half push to open up a lead and pulled away in the second half for an 81-64 victory. The Catamounts will now return home for their final two home games of the season with a first round bye for the upcoming Southern Conference Championship on the line in Cullowhee.

Junior Marc Gosselin paced the Catamount attack as he scored 14 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds in the loss. Junior Mike Amius returned to double-figures with 11 points. WCU’s three other starters nearly reached the double-figure mark as freshman Matt Halvorsen and senior Ashley Williams each finished with nine points and senior Devin Peterson had eight.

Peterson had a team-high four assists while Gosselin, Williams and freshman Desmond Johnson each added three helpers in the game.

WCU limited its mistakes Thursday night turning the ball over just eight times while forcing 10 Mercer mistakes. The Bears shot 56.0 percent from the field in the game while the Catamounts came in at 46.2 percent. Mercer also won the rebounding battle 30-21.

The loss drops WCU to 12-17 on the year and 7-9 in Southern Conference play while the Bears improved to 16-13 overall and 9-7 in league action.

The Bears were led Demetre Rivers who had a game-high 24 points in the victory while grabbing six rebounds. Ross Cummings added 19 points while Desmond Ringer chipped in 14 while going 6-of-6 from the field.

The Catamounts will now head back to Cullowhee to prepare for Friday night’s showdown with Furman. The Paladins will visit the Ramsey Center at 7 pm Friday night.