CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina put five players in double figures and shot 60.3 percent from the field including a sizzling 72-percent in the first half as the Catamounts celebrated Senior Day with a convincing 85-61 win over Mercer on Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Regional Activity Center.

With the win, Western Carolina (11-15, 4-13 SoCon) clinches the #9 seed at next week's Ingles Southern Conference Tournament presented by General Shale and will face #8 seed The Citadel on Friday in the first round at 5:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live audio on the Catamount Sports Network beginning at 5 p.m. Mercer was relegated to the No. 7 seed with the loss.

Junior Cory Hightower led five Catamounts in double figures with 16 points. The Flint, Mich., native surpassed the 1,000-career point mark early in the first half on a 3-pointer from the right-wing. Sophomore Xavier Cork tallied his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Matt Halvorsen tallied 14 points followed by junior Kameron Gibson with 13 and redshirt senior Mason Faulkner with 12.

Prior to the game, Faulkner, Halvorsen, and fellow senior Marcus Thomas were honored for their contributions to the WCU program.

Neftali Alvarez led Mercer (15-10, 8-9 SoCon) with 16 points followed by James Glisson III with 11 points.

Mercer scored the game's first seven points before the Catamounts answered with a 12-0 run for a 12-7 advantage with just over 15 minutes to play. An Alvarez layup brought the Bears within five, 27-22, at the 5:32 mark before the Catamounts went on an 18-6 run for a 45-28 lead after a Cork slam dunk with 24 seconds left in the frame. Patrick Urey's free throws with under a second remaining trimmed WCU's halftime lead to 15, 45-30. The Catamounts shot 18-for-25 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, sinking eight of 14 (57.1 percent) 3-point attempts.

Halvorsen's driving layup 28 seconds into the second half opened the scoring as the Catamounts led by no fewer than 15 points during the second half. A Thomas layup with 3:23 remaining gave WCU a game-high 29-point lead, 82-53. Diego Rivera drained a 3-pointer with less than three seconds remaining for the game's final score.

The Catamounts finished 35-for-58 (60.3 percent) from the field in the game. The 60.3 percent is the second-highest single-game field goal percentage for the Catamounts this season and the best against a conference opponent. WCU was 13-for 26 (50 percent) behind the arc, making double-digit 3-pointers for the 10th time this season. WCU went to the free-throw line just three times (2-of-3, 66.7%). Mercer was 24-for-56 (42.9 percent) from the field, 4-for-16 (25 percent) behind the arc, and made all nine of their free throw attempts. WCU outrebounded Mercer 31-25.

The complete bracket for the 2021 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championship presented by General Shale will be released later Saturday night once the final regular season games conclude.

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