Cullowhee, N.C. – Redshirt junior Mason Faulkner led four Western Carolina players in double figures with a game-high 25 points as the Catamounts defeated Wofford 81-72 in a Southern Conference Saturday night showdown in front of a season-best crowd of 3,809 at the Ramsey Center.
 
Faulkner finished over the 20-point mark for the second straight game and seventh time this season. Onno Steger tallied 17 points, scoring 15 on five made 3-pointers in the first half. Carlos Dotson posted his third straight and 10^th double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Matt Halvorsen tallied 12 points and grabbed a season-best six rebounds.
 
Nathan Hoover scored 20 points, 10 of which came at the free throw line, to lead Wofford. Storm Murphy tallied 19 points followed by Tray Hollowell with 12 points.
 
Western Carolina (13-6, 5-3 SoCon) opened the game on an 8-3 run before the Terriers clawed back and took a 9-8 lead on a Hoover layup at the 15:41 mark. The Catamounts regained the lead on their next possession before a Donovan Theme-Love jumper put the visitors ahead 13-12 with just over 13 minutes to play. After Hollowell gave Wofford an 18-15 advantage with 11:46 left in the first half, WCU responded with a 10-0 run capped by a Travion McCray layup at the 8:58 mark for a 25-18 lead.
 
The Terriers trimmed the deficit back to one, 26-25, on the strength of a Murphy 3-pointer at the 7:16 mark before WCU scored nine of the next 12 points to lead 37-28 after a Halvorsen 3-pointer with 4 minutes left in the frame. With just over four seconds remaining in the half, Halvorsen was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made three free throws to send the Catamounts into halftime with a 45-34 lead. The Catamounts made nine 3-points in the first half and shot 57.1 percent from the field in the opening stanza.
 
Wofford (13-8, 5-3) opened the second half scoring on a Chevez Goodwin layup 60 seconds into the session and trimmed the Catamount lead to three, 55-52, with a Hollowell 3-pointer with just over 12 minutes remaining in regulation. WCU answered back with a 10-2 run as Dotson made the first of two free throws for a 65-54 advantage with 8:11 remaining.
 
Western Carolina's lead fluctuated between six and nine points until a Faulkner bucket put the hosts ahead 70-59 with 4:48 to play, tying their largest lead of the night. Wofford was undeterred, scoring seven straight points to pull back within four, 70-66, with just under three minutes to play. Dotson and Faulkner made layups on the next two Catamount possessions to push the lead back up to eight, 74-66. Hoover was fouled on consecutive possessions while attempting a 3-point shot and made all three free throws on both occasions to bring the Terriers back within four, 76-72, with 51 seconds to play. McCray made three of four free throw attempts on the next two Catamount possessions to salt away the victory.
 
WCU outrebounded Wofford 36-29 and outshot the Terriers 52.8 percent to 41.0 percent. The game featured two ties and six lead changes.

The Catamounts remain at home on Wednesday, hosting third-place UNCG at 7 p.m.
 
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