CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Tre Jackson led four players in double figures with 17 points and Vonterius Woolbright recorded a team-best eight rebounds and eight assists along with 14 points as Western Carolina used a dominant second half to defeat Furman 79-67 on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center on Saturday afternoon.

WCU improves to 8-7 with the win and 1-1 in the Southern Conference. The victory also snaps a 13-game series losing streak to the Paladins. Furman drops to 10-5 and 1-1.

Jackson's 17-point performance came after he went 6-for-10 from the field and 5-for-9 behind the 3-point line. Russell Jones Jr added 15 points as he also made six shots from the field. Woolbright narrowly missed a triple-double with his 14-point, eight rebound, and eight assist effort. Bernard Pelote added 14 points and a career-best eight rebounds off the bench.

Garrett Hein led Furman with a game-high 20 points followed by Mike Bothwell with 18 and Jalen Slawson with 16. Slawson snagged a team-best seven rebounds.

A pair of 3-pointers by Jones Jr and Tyler Harris allowed WCU to open the game on a 6-2 run before the Paladins evened the contest at nine with 14:21 to play. After WCU grabbed a 17-12 lead following a Pelote dunk near the midpoint of the half, Furman used an 11-0 run capped by a Hein layup to lead 23-17 with 7:38 remaining. Hein gave the visitors their largest lead of the half, 28-19, with just over six minutes to play. Jones Jr scored the final points of the opening period on a 3-pointer with 29 seconds to go as Furman led 41-38 at halftime.

Hein put the Paladins in front 50-41 following a 3-pointer with 16:06 to go in regulation. WCU responded with a 9-0 run to even the game at 50 with 14:21 to play. The teams were tied on three additional occasions before a Pelote layup broke a 57-all tie as WCU used a 7-0 spurt to grab a lead they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game and led by no fewer than five points. The Catamounts led by a game-high 15 points, 75-60, following a Woolbright layup with 3:17 to play and kept a double-digit lead down the stretch to secure the victory. WCU outscored Furman 41-26 in the second half.

For the game, WCU finished 28-for-54 (51.9 percent) from the field, 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) behind the 3-point line, and 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) at the free throw line. Furman was 24-for-49 (49 percent) from the field, 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) behind the arc, and 11-for-18 (61.1 percent) at the charity stripe. The Catamounts outrebounded Furman 35-21 including a 27-10 margin in the second half.

WCU makes its first roadtrip in league play on Wednesday, venturing to Johnson City, Tenn. to face ETSU at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with Catamount Sports Network audio coverage commencing at 6:30 p.m.

Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's basketball and WCU Athletics through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@catamountmbb @wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@CatamountMBB @catamounts.