Final Stats |   

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - For the second-straight meeting between the two programs, the Furman Paladins used a strong shooting performance to down the Western Carolina men's basketball team, 78-55, Friday night inside the Ramsey Center. Junior Andrew Brown, who entered the game averaging 8.6 points per game, exploded for 16 first half points for the Paladins before ending the game with 22 points including six 3-pointers. The Catamounts tried to counter with its two inside threats in juniors Mike Amius and Marc Gosselin. The pair combined for 24 points for the Catamounts while connecting on 10-of-21 shots from the field.

Amius had a team-high 13 points while adding six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Gosselin chipped in 11 points, a team-high seven rebounds and two blocks. WCU's next highest scorer was freshman Marcus Thomas who came off the bench to score seven points in 15 minutes of action.

The loss drops WCU to 12-18 overall and 7-10 in Southern Conference action. The Paladins improved to 21-9 on the year and 12-5 in league play.

WCU struggled to find its shooting touch all evening as the Catamounts finished the game with a 33.9 percent shooting percentage. The Paladins on the other hand connected on 54.4 percent of its shots while knocking down 40.7 percent from 3-point range.

Furman edged the Catamounts on the boards 36-35. WCU collected 13 offensive rebounds but were only able to convert those into six second chance points. The Paladins were held to six offensive boards which led to two second chance tallies.

Both programs committed 14 turnovers in the game but WCU took the lead in points off turnovers, 14-11. Statistically both teams were nearly even in every category except for shooting percentage which proved to be the deciding factor.

The Paladins were paced by Brown's 22 point effort while reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year Devin Sibley was held to just 11 points in the victory. Furman jumped out to an early 10-point lead as the Paladins opened the game with a 12-2 run over the first 4:35 of action. WCU cut the deficit to seven a few possessions later but that would be as close as the Catamounts would get the rest of the way as the Paladins held a comfortable lead most of the contest.

WCU will play its final regular season game of the season Sunday afternoon as the Catamounts host The Citadel at 2 pm. The Catamounts will honor their six seniors prior to the game with the ceremony beginning at approximately 1:50 pm. A win on Sunday would secure the Catamounts a first round bye in the upcoming Southern Conference Championship and a date with the No. 3 seed at 8:30 pm, Saturday, March 3 in Asheville, N.C. If WCU is unable to down the visiting Bulldogs the Catamounts will need to rely on UNCG knocking off Samford in order to secure the No. 6 seed. If Samford were to win on Sunday and WCU were to lose, WCU would drop to the No. 7 seed behind Samford and would play the No. 10 seed on Friday, March 2 at 7:30 pm.