CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Marlow Gilmore tallied a career-high 14 points to lead the Catamounts and
Marcus Banks logged his first career double-double on Wednesday night, but The Citadel mounted a furious second half comeback in scoring a 68-66 win over Western Carolina in Southern Conference action at McAlister Field House.
The Citadel improves to 9-10 overall and 3-5 in league games while WCU drops to 8-13 and 2-6.
Gilmore scored 14 points in just 12 minutes of action before fouling out. The Norway, S.C., native was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and surpassed his previous career-best of eight points at Furman on Jan. 19. Banks recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, surpassing his previous best of eight rebounds that came in the first meeting against the Bulldogs.
Nicholas Robinson (12) and
Cam Bacote (11) also finished in double figures for WCU.
Hayden Brown led The Citadel with a double-double, scoring a game-high 26 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, 10 of which were on defense. Stephen Clark tallied 15 points followed by Jason Roche with 14 for the Bulldogs.
Joe Petrakis won the opening tip for the Catamounts and turned it into points on a Robinson jumper. The Bulldogs matched WCU on their next possession and took a 5-4 edge on a Roche 3-pointer with 16:01 remaining in the first half. WCU reeled off five straight points over the next minute-plus and led 9-5 following a Bacote layup with 14:50 to play.
Even at 11 at the midpoint of the first half, Roche sank a bucket put the hosts ahead 13-11 just under a minute later. Banks' 3-pointer with 7:57 to play before the break sparked a 15-0 Catamount run over the nearly the next four minutes as a Petrakis jumper gave WCU a 26-13 lead with just over four minutes to play. Banks beat the halftime buzzer with a turnaround jumper to give WCU a 33-18 lead heading into intermission.
Like in the first half, Robinson opened the second half scoring with a jumper before a 6-0 Bulldog run prompted a quick Catamount timeout less than two minutes into the frame. A pair of Robinson free throws extended the Catamount lead back to 13, 37-24. Brown sank a pair of free throws at the 17 -minute mark to bring the hosts within single digits, 37-28, before a 10-2 Catamount run capped by a Banks 3-pointer gave WCU a 47-30 lead with just under 14 minutes left.
Another Banks triple at the 11:49 mark gave WCU a game-high 19-point lead, 52-33. However, The Citadel chipped away at the Catamount advantage over the next eight minutes using an 18-8 run to pull within 10 points, 61-51, at the 3:56 mark. Just after the under-four minute media timeout,
Tyler Harris drained a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 13, 64-51.
The Bulldogs continued their torrid, late-game rally, cutting the deficit to two points, 64-62 with 55 seconds left before a pair of
Vonterius Woolbright free throws gave WCU a two-possession lead with 26 seconds remaining. Brown tallied a layup five seconds later and following a Catamount turnover completed a three-point play for a 67-66 Bulldog lead with five seconds to play. On the ensuing WCU possession, the Catamounts were whistled for an offensive charging foul and Brown made one of two free throw attempts to provide the game's final score.
WCU outrebounded The Citadel 43-39. The Bulldogs finished the game 25-for-59 (42.4 percent) from the field, 6-for-24 (25 percent) behind the arc, and 12-for-22 (54.5 percent) at the free throw line. The Catamounts were 24-for-61 (39.3 percent) from the field, 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) behind the 3-point line, and 12-for-16 (75 percent) at the charity stripe.
The Catamounts return to Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center on Saturday (Jan. 29), hosting Samford in the front half of a basketball doubleheader at 2 p.m., with the women's team hosting UNCG at 5 p.m. Saturday's games will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with video coverage through ESPN+ (
paid subscription required).
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