CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina senior
Matt Halvorsen entered Monday's home opener against Piedmont College needing nine points to become the 47th player in WCU program history to reach the 1,000-career point milestone. The Kingsport, Tenn., native far surpassed the milestone with 20 points to lead four Catamounts in double figures in a 96-58 victory over the NCAA Division III Lions on Monday morning in the Ramsey Center.
Halvorsen's 20-point output, which was his third 20-point-plus output in four games this season, came as he went 5-for-14 from the field and 6-for-16 at the free-throw line. Freshman
Sin'Cere McMahon finished in double digits for the first time in his career with a career-best 20 points including six made 3-pointers. Sophomore
Xavier Cork logged his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. A total of 12 Catamounts contributed offensively in the game, including freshman
Brad Halvorsen with the first two points of his collegiate career.
Ryan Jolly led Piedmont with 19 points followed by Orry Clements-Owns with 13. Jordan Foote snagged a game-high 11 rebounds.
Cork opened the scoring with a layup at the 17:30 mark before the Lions knotted the game at five on a Foote layup with just over 16 minutes to play io. The teams struggled to gain separation from each other by more than two points until an
Ahmir Langlais layup gave WCU a 19-16 lead at the 9:45 mark. Piedmont answered on its next possession as a Jolly 3-pointer tied the game. With the score tied at 30 with 3:30 remaining, Halvorsen drained a 3-pointer to surpass 1,000 points as the Catamounts quickly built a six-point edge thanks to a McMahon triple on the next WCU possession. A 3-pointer by Clements-Owens brought the Lions within a point, 40-39, with 65 seconds remaining. McMahon's 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining sent the Catamounts into halftime with a 43-39 lead. The tightly contested first half featured four ties and 14 lead changes with the largest lead by either team being six points.
WCU opened the second half with four points in the first 1:59 to stretch its lead to 10, 49-39. After a Justin Quick layup at the 17:19 mark that brought the Lions within nine, the Catamounts went on a 21-0 run over the next 7:19 for a 70-41 lead. A pair of
Daniel Ransom free throws with 2:32 to play extended the WCU lead to a game-high 40 points. 92-52. The Lions would get no closer than 35 the rest of the way.
For the game, the Catamounts finished 31-for-71 (43.7 percent) from the field while Piedmont was 21-for-63 (33.3 percent). WCU held a 46-40 edge in rebounds. The Catamounts had 10 steals and forced 17 Piedmont turnovers which resulted in 15 points while only turning the ball over on a season-low seven occasions.
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