CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Junior Marlow Gilmore tallied a career-best 15 points to lead five Western Carolina players in double figures, but Furman rode a strong opening half to a 103-85 win on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center on Wednesday night.
 
The Paladins opened up a 27-point lead in the first half before the Catamounts chipped away at the deficit, but we're never able to carve the margin back to single digits in the home loss.
 
Gilmore surpassed his previous high of 14 points, finishing the game 6-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 at the free throw line off the bench for WCU. He also grabbed four rebounds. Tyler Harris and Vonterius Woolbright tallied 13 points each followed by Marvin Price with 12 and Cam Bacote with 11. Bacote distributed a career-best seven assists and Marcus Banks snagged a team-best five rebounds.
 
Mike Bothwell and Alex Hunter both hit 20 points to lead Furman, finishing with 25 points and 23, respectively. JP Pegues tallied 15 points with Conley Garrison adding 13. Jalen Slawson pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
 
Furman improves to 18-10 overall and 10-5 in the Southern Conference while WCU drops to 9-19 and 3-12.
 
The Paladins opened Wednesday's game on a 10-0 run and led 15-3 following a Garrison 3-pointer at the 15:29 mark. Following a Joe Petrakis three at the 12-minute mark that made the score 24-11, the Paladins tallied 24 of the next 28 points to lead 42-15 with just over seven minutes remaining before halftime. The Catamounts battled back down the stretch as Price sank a pair of free throws to send WCU into halftime trailing 51-36.
 
A Gilmore layup opened the second half scoring as the Catamounts cut the Paladin lead to 11, 64-53, after a Bacote jumper with just under 15 minutes remaining in regulation. Bothwell answered on the ensuing Furman possession with a 3-pointer as the Catamounts got no closer the rest of the way.
 
Furman finished the game 34-for-71 (47.9 percent) from the field, 15-for-36 (41.7 percent) behind the arc, and 20-for-23 (87 percent) at the free throw line. Of Furman's 15 made 3-pointers, nine came in the opening half. WCU was 29-for-59 (49.2 percent), 11-for-26 (42.3 percent) on 3-point attempts, and 16-for-21 (76.2 percent) at the charity stripe. Furman held a 41-28 advantage in rebounds.
 
WCU remains at home Saturday, hosting Mercer at 2 p.m. in the front end of a doubleheader with the women's basketball team at 5 p.m.
 
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