CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball welcomes Mercer to Ingles Court in the Ramsey Center in the penultimate home game of the 2021-22 season on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the front end of a doubleheader with the WCU women's team at 5 p.m.
Admission to the game between Catamounts and Bears is $11 for adults and $6 for youth 12 and under. Kids 2 and under get in free. WCU students gain free admission to the game by showing their Cat Card at the Northwest Entrance and are encouraged to sit in the Cat Cage student section located in sections QR.
A reminder that approved face coverings that properly cover the nose and mouth are required to be worn at all times within WCU campus buildings including the Ramsey Center when not actively eating or drinking. Fans are also asked to physically distance with arena seating limited to every other row inside the Ramsey Center. Additionally, fans are asked to leave two seats between their party and others.
See WCU's Updated Spectator Policies for Home Basketball Games for more information and review WCU's Clear Bag policy and game day parking maps located in the right column.
Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with live Catamount Sports Network audio coverage commencing at 1:30 p.m., streaming online at CatamountSports.com and can be heard locally on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC, The River and online at WRGC.com.
WCU is 9-19 overall and 3-12 in the Southern Conference following a 103-85 home loss to Furman on Wednesday night.
Marlow Gilmore led five Catamounts in double figures with a career-best 15 points. In addition to scoring 11 points,
Cam Bacote distributed a career-best seven assists.
Mercer is 15-13 on the season and 8-7 in league games after a 65-56 home victory over ETSU on Wednesday. The Bears are tied with Wofford for fourth in the conference standings heading towards the postseason tournament. Team leading scorer Felipe Haase paced the Bears with 17 points in the win over ETSU followed by Jalen Johnson with 16 and Shannon Grant with 13. Haase ranks ninth in the SoCon in scoring at 14.9 points per game with both he and Johnson ranking among the league-leaders in 3-pointers made per game at 2.6 and 2.3, respectively.
The Catamounts and Bears have met 23 previous times with Mercer holding a 12-11 advantage after defeating WCU 72-64 at Hawkins Arena in Macon on Jan. 22. In that game, WCU used a 17-6 spurt over a three and a half minute span under the eight minute mark to erase a nine-point deficit to grab a two-point, 60-58 lead. However, the homestanding Bears used a 14-4 run during the final four minutes to secure the win.
Joe Petrakis tallied a career-high 20 points in the loss.
WCU heads to UNCG for their final road game of the season on Wednesday, traveling to UNCG and the Greensboro Coliseum for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
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.
