CULLOWHEE, N.C. – After playing the first three games of the 2020-21 season at UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena, the Western Carolina men's basketball team comes home on Monday morning as the Catamounts face Piedmont College at 11 a.m. Monday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required).
In accordance with executive orders from North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, only student-athlete families will be able to attend basketball games in the Ramsey Center for the start of the 2020-21 season. Families of student-athletes will adhere to public health guidance when attending games, including but not limited to mask-wearing, maintaining a social distance between different parties, and observance of North Carolina's executive orders as well as WCU's Catamounts Care community standards.
Season tickets will not be offered and single game tickets are currently not available. Should North Carolina executive orders change in regards to indoor attendance capacities during the season, the current directives could be adjusted.
WCU is 2-1 after outlasting UNC Asheville 83-81 in overtime Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs rallied to force overtime but the Catamounts made timely shots and made free throws down the stretch to secure the win. Senior
Matt Halvorsen scored a team-best 21 points, with sophomore
Xavier Cork adding 16 including the game-tying layup to force overtime. Redshirt senior
Mason Faulkner and sophomore
Travion McCray also finished in double figures with 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Piedmont College is 2-1 with a pair of wins over Bob Jones and a loss against East Texas Baptist. Monday's game is the second straight exhibition for the Lions against an NCAA Division I member; they suffered an 89-64 loss at The Citadel on Wednesday.
Monday's game is the 44
th all-time meeting between the schools with WCU leading the all-time series 38-5. The Catamounts have won seven straight matchups including a 108-47 victory on Dec. 28, 2019 in the most recent contest.
WCU remains at home on Sunday, Dec. 6, hosting Tennessee Tech at Noon.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount basketball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountMBB).
