ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Redshirt senior
Mason Faulkner led five Western Carolina players in double figures with 29 points but the Catamounts were unable to slow down a hot shooting performance in the second half by The Citadel in a 100-86 loss to the Bulldogs in the first round of the 2021 Ingles Southern Conference Tournament presented by General Shale Brick.
The Citadel advances to Saturday's quarterfinal round and a Noon contest against top-seeded UNCG. WCU ends its season with an 11-16 overall record
Faulkner tallied a season-high 29-points, going 8-for-15 from the field, 3-for-6 behind the arc, and 10-for-14 at the free throw line. The Glasgow, Ky., native surpassed the 20-point threshold in all three SoCon tournament games he has played in and concludes his career with 1,343 points.
Sophomore
Xavier Cork recorded his second straight and fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior
Kameron Gibson tallied 15 points followed by freshman
Sin'Cere McMahon with 12 and senior
Matt Halvorsen with 10. Halvorsen made two 3-pointers to move into sole possession of 10
th place in the SoCon's career made 3-pointers list with 297.
Hayden Brown paced the Bulldogs with 19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds before fouling out. Stephen Clark (18), Tyler Moffe (18), Fletcher Abee (17), Rudy Fitzgibbons III (13), and Kaiden Rice (11) each finished in double figures for The Citadel.
The Bulldogs broke a 4-4 tie with four straight points to take their largest lead of the opening half, 8-4. The Catamounts took a 10-9 lead after a Faulkner three-point play only to have a Brown 3-pointer tie the game at 12 at the 13:15 mark. WCU answered with a 10-2 spurt as a
Tyler Harris layup gave the Catamounts a 22-14 lead at the midpoint of the half. WCU's lead stayed between three and eight points as a
Xavier Cork layup just before the buzzer sounded sent the Catamounts into halftime with a 39-32 lead.
The Citadel opened the second half on a 7-0 blitz as a Brown layup tied the contest at 39 at the 18:20 mark. After the Catamounts pulled ahead 43-39, a Clark layup followed by consecutive Abee treys gave the Bulldogs a lead they wouldn't relinquish with just under 16 minutes to play. The Catamounts remained within four points for the next five minutes until a Clark dunk put The Citadel ahead by 11, 62-51, at the 11:06 mark. The Catamounts cut the deficit to eight, 88-80, following a McMahon jumper at the 2:09 mark but would get no closer. In the second half, The Citadel went 19-for-26 (73.1 percent) from the field and had a 9-for-15 (60 percent) mark behind the arc while scoring 68 points.
For the game The Citadel finished 32-for-61 (52.5 percent) from the field, 12-for-29 (41.4 percent) behind the arc and 24-for-29 (82.8 percent) at the free throw line. WCU was 29-for-65 (44.6 percent) from the field, 10-for-34 (29.4 percent) on 3-point attempts and 18-for-26 (69.2 percent) in free throws.
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