CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Redshirt junior Mason Faulkner recorded his second triple-double of the season as Western Carolina scored a season-high 109 points in a 109-78 win over Samford in the 2019-20 home finale Wednesday at the Ramsey Center.

Faulkner tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-best 12 assists in 31 minutes of playing time. He scored 14 points with seven rebounds and eight assists in the first half. It is Faulkner's second career triple-double with his first coming against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 12 with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Senior Onno Steger led five Catamounts in double figures with a career-high 31 points. The Upper Arlington, Ohio native went 10-for-17 from the field and 7-for-11 behind the 3-point line. In addition to Faulkner, Travion McCray (12 points), Xavier Cork (11 points), and Carlos Dotson (11 points) each finished in double figures. Dotson logged his 18^th double-double of the season with 10 rebounds.

Josh Sharkey led Samford with 30 points followed by Brandon Austin with 16 and Deandre Thomas with 15. Jalen Dupree grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds.

With the win, Western Carolina improves to 18-10 overall and 10-7 in the Southern Conference. Samford drops to 9-22 and 3-14.

A Steger layup 40 seconds into the game opened the scoring before Austin gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game with a 3-pointer at the 19:03 mark. Dotson extended the Catamount lead to 9-5 after a jumper with just over 16 minutes to play before Austin evened the game at 9 at the 14:51 mark. Following a pair of Sharkey free throws that made the score 14-11 in favor of WCU with 12:14 to play in the first half, the Catamounts used a 12-3 run for a 26-14 edge after a Faulkner 3-pointer at the 8-minute mark. Sharkey brought the Bulldogs within six, 26-20, after a 3-pointer with 7:20 to play but WCU answered with a 15-4 run to lead 41-27 with 4:18 remaining. McCray sent the Catamounts into halftime with a 53-33 lead as his jumper just beat the buzzer.

Just as in the first half, Steger opened the second half scoring as his 3-pointer gave the Catamounts a 56-33 advantage. The Bulldogs cut the WCU lead to 18, 56-38, thanks to a Sharkey 3-pointer with just under 18 minutes remaining. After a Dunk by Austin made the score 63-44 in favor of WCU, the Catamounts went on an 8-0 run as a Steger 3-pointer at the 13:54 mark put the hosts ahead 71-44. Matt Halvorsen's layup at the 9:34 mark gave WCU a game-high 33-point lead, 83-50 as WCU led by no fewer than 25 points the rest of the way. J.P. Robinson sank a pair of free throws for Samford with 11 seconds remaining for the game's final score.

The Catamounts went 40-for-76 (52.6 percent) from the field and 15-for-33 (45.5 percent) behind the arc. Samford went 25-for-69 (36.2 percent) from the field and 10-for-37 (27 percent) in 3-point attempts. WCU grabbed a season-high 52 rebounds as the Catamounts dominated the glass with a 52-33 edge in rebounds.

WCU concludes the 2019-20 regular season on Saturday, traveling to ETSU for a 4 p.m. tip-off. The game will be streamed on ESPN3 (cable or satellite subscription required) with audio coverage provided by the Catamount Sports Network.

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