GREENVILLE, S.C. – Sophomore Xavier Cork led five Western Carolina players in double figures, but Furman used a big first-half run to secure an 88-70 win over the Catamounts in Timmons Arena on Saturday.
 
Furman improves to 13-7 overall and 7-4 in the Southern Conference while Western Carolina drops to 9-12 and 2-10.
 
Cork had a team-best 15 points, followed by junior Kameron Gibson with a season-best 13 points. Redshirt senior Mason Faulkner, senior Matt Halvorsen, and junior Cory Hightower each finished with 11 points. Hightower pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
 
Noah Gurley and Jalen Slawson led Furman with 16 points, followed by Clay Mounce with 14 and Jonny Lawrence with 11. Gurley just missed a double-double with eight rebounds.
 
A Cork layup at the 16-minute mark capped an 11-5 WCU run to open the game. Furman answered with a 27-4 run to lead 32-15 with just over eight minutes remaining before the break. A Gibson 3-pointer brought WCU within 14, 34-20, with 7:16 to play. The Paladins extended their lead to a first-half best 25 points, 53-28, with 1:14 to play in the half and led 55-31 at halftime. In the opening stanza, Furman converted seven WCU turnovers into 17 points.
 
Faulkner's jumper at the 15:18 mark of the second half brought the Catamounts within 20, 60-40. Furman answered with a 14-2 run for a game-high 32-point lead, 74-42. After a Slawson dunk gave Furman a 76-46 lead, WCU outscored the Paladins 24-12 for the remainder of the game.
 
The Catamounts finished the game 26-for-51 (51 percent) from the field while Furman went 34-for-69 (49.3 percent) The Paladins made 14 of 36 (38.9 percent) 3-point attempts while WCU was 7-for-20 (35 percent). WCU committed 18 turnovers which resulted in 27 Paladin points while Furman committed seven turnovers which resulted in seven Catamount points.
 
WCU remains on the road Wednesday, heading to Chattanooga for a 7 p.m. tip-off. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with audio coverage on the Catamount Sports Network starting at 6:30 p.m.
 
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