ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Redshirt junior
Mason Faulkner scored a team-best 29 points but ETSU used two big runs in the first half to claim a 97-75 win over Western Carolina in the first of two semifinal games in the 2020 Ingles Southern Conference Tournament presented by General Shale.
ETSU improves to 29-4 overall and will face either seventh-seeded Wofford in Monday's championship game (7 pm, ESPN).
Faulkner's 29 points are the most by a Catamount in the SoCon Tournament since Mike Brown scored 34 points in a quarterfinal win over Wofford in 2016. Faulkner just missed a double-double as he grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. With his 15-point effort,
Onno Steger became the 46
th player in school history to surpass the 1,000-career point mark. Steger, a senior, now has 1,002 career points. Fellow senior
Carlos Dotson tallied 11 points.
Each member of ETSU's starting five finished in double figures led by Daivien Williams with 20 points. Tray Boyd scored 18 points followed by Bo Hodges and Isaiah Tisdale with 13 each. Lucas N'Guessan finished with 12 points. Boyd, Hodges, and N'Guessan each grabbed six rebounds.
ETSU claimed the opening tip and scored the opening seven points of the game before a
Travion McCray 3-pointer got the Catamounts on the board at the 18:28 mark. A Dotson layup brought the Catamounts within three, 11-8, at the 16:25 mark before a 9-2 run put ETSU ahead 20-10 with just under 14 minutes to play. Faulkner hit the second of two free throw attempts to bring WCU within seven, 20-13 with 12:37 left before the Bucs answered with a 19-6 run for a 39-19 lead following a Boyd 3-pointer with 5:30 remaining. ETSU extended its lead to a first half-best 25 points, 44-19, after a Williamson three-point play at the 4:07 mark. A Harris jumper from the right wing bounced off the top of the rim and in as time expired to send the Catamounts into halftime trailing by 18, 48-30. WCU (19-12) committed nine turnovers in the first half which resulted in 15 ETSU points. The teams were whistled for 28 fouls in the opening stanza and shot a combined 34 free throws.
Halvorsen opened the second half scoring with a 3-pointer at the 18:34 mark before nine straight ETSU points pushed their advantage to 57-33 with 16:30 remaining. Halvorsen drained a 3-pointer to bring WCU within 19, 61-42, with 14:13 to play before a layup by Hodges on the next ETSU possession pushed their lead back above the 20-point mark. The ETSU lead hovered between 20 and 24 points until Halvorsen's 3-pointer with 4:23 remaining made the score 89-70. WCU would get no closer down the stretch as a Charlie Weber layup served as the game's final basket.
ETSU finished 34-for-58 (58.6 percent) from the field, 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) behind the arc and 21-for-29 (72.4 percent) at the free throw line. WCU finished 23-for-53 (43.4 percent) from the field, 7-for-25 (28.0 percent) on 3-point attempts and 22-for-31 (71.0 percent) at the free throw line. ETSU held a 35-28 edge in rebounds.
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