CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Senior
Carlos Dotson scored a team-best 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Western Carolina to a 96-84 win over The Citadel on Senior Night at the Ramsey Center on Saturday.
WCU improves to 17-10 overall and 9-7 in the Southern Conference with the victory, giving them the regular season sweep over The Citadel for the fourth straight year. The 17 wins are the most for the Catamounts since going 19-15 during the 2013-14 campaign. The Citadel drops to 6-21 and 0-16.
Dotson logged his 17
th double-double of the year as he eclipsed the 20-point milestone for the seventh time this season including a 9-for-11 mark at the free throw line. His 10 rebounds were a game high. Junior
Matt Halvorsen added a season-high 21 points, followed by redshirt junior
Mason Faulkner with 16, senior
Onno Steger with 12 and freshman
Travion McCray with 11.
Freshman Fletcher Abee paced The Citadel with a game-high 28 points. Abee went 10-for-19 from the field and made seven of The Citadel's 15 3-pointers in the game. Kaelon Harris finished with 22 points followed by Tyson Batiste with 17
.
Senior
Adam Sledd opened the scoring with his first career 3-pointer before the Bulldogs answered with an Abee 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. With the game tied at 5, the Bulldogs scored seven straight points for a 12-5 lead thanks to an Abee 3-pointer at the 15:54 mark. The Catamounts battled back, pulling within two, 17-15, on a Dotson layup with 12:39 remaining. The Citadel answered with six straight points as a Harris bucket at the 11:09 mark gave the visitors their largest lead of the game at eight points, 23-15. Over the course of the next four minutes, the Catamounts went on a 12-4 run as a
Tyler Harris layup put the hosts ahead 27-26 with just under eight minutes left in the first half. WCU pushed its lead to five, 33-28, after a Faulkner 3-pointer at the 5:30 mark and took a 39-34 lead into halftime.
Abee brought the Bulldogs within two on a bucket 15 seconds into the second half. WCU answered with five straight points for a 44-37 before Batiste's pointer at the 18:06 mark brought the visitors within four, 44-40. The Catamounts responded with a 17-6 run, taking a game-high 15-point lead, 61-46 after Dotson drained two free throws at the 12:43 mark.
The Bulldogs didn't go quietly, scoring 20 of the next 29 points to pull within four, 70-66, after Harris completed a three-point play with just over seven minutes left. On the next WCU possession, McCray drew a foul and made one of two free throws before draining a 3-pointer with 6:19 remaining for a 74-66 Catamount lead. Harris brought the visitors within seven, 76-69, thanks to his 3-pointer with 5:21 to play before WCU pushed their lead back to 15, 86-71, on a Halvorsen 3-pointer at the 3:07 mark. Senior
Jason McMillan's 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining served as the final basket of the evening.
WCU finished the game 32-for-67 (47.8 percent) from the field, 12-for-33 (36.4 percent) behind the 3-point line and 20-for-23 at the free throw line. The Citadel converted 28 of 60 field goal attempts (46.7 percent) and made 15 of 34 3-point attempts, the most given up by the Catamounts in a game this season. The Bulldogs made all 13 of their free throws. The Catamounts held a 37-30 edge in rebounds.
Dotson, McMillan, Sledd, and Steger along with senior student managers Jeff Adams, Jacob Huff, Drevin Robinson, and Cole Spivey were honored during Senior Night festivities prior to tip-off.
The Catamounts host Samford in the final home game of the 2019-20 regular season on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance online at catamountsports.com, by phone at 800-34-GOWCU or at the Catamount Ticket Office weekdays from 9 am- 5 pm to secure the best seats and avoid lines on game day.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's basketball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts) and Twitter (@catamounts, @wcu_mbb).
