Charleston, S.C. – Senior Carlos Dotson scored four of Western Carolina's five points in the final minute of regulation including the game-winning basket with 46 seconds left as the Catamounts downed The Citadel 86-82 on Saturday at McAlister Field House.

Western Carolina improves to 10-3 overall and 2-0 in the Southern Conference. The Catamounts are off to their best start in their first 13 games since opening the 2009-10 campaign with an 11-2 mark. The Citadel drops to 6-8 and 0-3.

Senior Onno Steger made a career-high eight 3-pointers, six in the first half, as he finished with a game-high 28 points. The 28 points scored are two shy of tying his career-high. Dotson recorded his second straight double-double and sixth of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt junior Mason Faulkner tallied 19 points while sophomore Kameron Gibson finished with 12 points.

Fletcher Abee and Tyson Batiste led four Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points each. Kaiden Rice recorded 13 points followed by Eddie Davis III with 10 points.
The game featured 17 lead changes and seven ties with neither team leading by more than seven points.

A Batiste layup on the first Citadel possession opened the scoring before Steger drained 3-pointers on each of the first three WCU possessions for a 9-7 advantage. The Citadel answered with a 9-0 run capped by a Rice layup for a 16-9 lead with 15:07 to play. WCU used an 11-4 run to tie the game at 20 with a Gibson 3-pointer at the 12:39 mark. A Batiste 3-pointer on the next Bulldog possession put the hosts back ahead as The Citadel's lead wavered between one and three points over the next three minutes until a Steger 3-pointer at the 9-minute mark knotted the game at 31.

Gibson put WCU ahead 38-33 with just over seven minutes to play but the Bulldogs evened the contest at 41 on an Abee jumper at the 4:11 mark. The Citadel led 51-49 at halftime after Steger made a pair of free throws with under 15 seconds left. The Catamounts made 11 3-pointers in the opening half.

Steger's career-best seventh 3-pointer of the game put WCU ahead 54-53 just over 90 seconds into the second half. The Citadel answered with a 9-2 run, pulling ahead 62-56 after a Baptiste 3-pointer with 16:35 left. Faulkner made the first of two free throw attempts for a 78-72 Catamount advantage at the 5:52 mark only to see the Bulldogs pull within a point on two Alex Reed free throws roughly two minutes later. Steger drained his final 3-pointer of the afternoon at the 2:56 mark for an 81-77 advantage.

An Abee 3-pointer put the hosts ahead 82-81 with 56 seconds left, setting the stage for Dotson's go-ahead bucket on the next Catamount possession. Faulkner forced one of his game-best three steals on the ensuing Bulldog possession and advanced the ball to Dotson, who was fouled and made two free throws for an 85-82 WCU lead with 21 seconds left. Rudy Fitzgibbons missed a 3-pointer and the defensive rebound was corralled by Faulkner. Faulkner sank the first of two free throws for the game's final score.

The Citadel finished 34-for-68 (50.0 percent) from the field while the Catamounts were 29-for-62 (46.8 percent). Western Carolina made 13 of 20 free throw attempts (65 percent) while the Bulldogs went 6-for-13 (40.0 percent) at the charity stripe. Free throws proved to be especially important in the second half as WCU was 9-for-14 from the free throw line and The Citadel was 5-for-13.

The Catamounts remain on the road, traveling to VMI for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday. The game will be streamed on ESPN3 (cable or satellite subscription required) with audio provided by the Catamount Sports Network.

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