LEXINGTON, Va. –
Vonterius Woolbright led four Western Carolina players in double figures with 19 points as the Catamounts earned a hard-fought 71-65 Sourhern Conference road victory over VMI inside Cameron Hall on Saturday afternoon.
The Catamounts improve to 12-11 overall and 5-5 in Southern Conference action. VMI drops to 5-18 and 0-10.
In addition to scoring 19 points, Woolbright also distributed a career-best 11 assists and snagged seven rebounds, just missing the triple-double in the winning effort.
Tyzhaun Claude recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman
DJ Campbell tallied 14 points followed by
Tre Jackson with 10.
Tyler Houser led VMI with a game-high 23 points. Tony Felder also finished in double figures with 11 points. Rickey Bradley pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
The Keydets opened the game on a 6-0 spurt before the Catamounts tallied seven straight points for their first lead of the game with a Claude layup at the 15:41 mark. A Jones Jr. 3-pointer put the Catamounts ahead 13-8 with 13:35 remaining before halftime before a 7-0 VMI run capped by a Felder layup put the hosts ahead 15-13 at the midpoint of the half. Campbell scored five straight points for WCU to give the visitors an 18-13 edge with just over nine minutes remaining, but VMI took advantage of a cold shooting spell by the Catamounts to pull ahead 22-20 with 3:54 remaining. After Jackson gave VMI a 26-22 lead with 2:25 left, WCU closed the half on a 10-0 run to lead 32-26 at the break.
A 3-pointer by Woods brought VMI within a point, 36-35, with 18:31 left in the second half. Campbell's three-point play pushed the WCU advantage back to five, 42-37, only to see the Keydets twice trim the Catamount lead to a single point over the next three minutes. The Keydets took their first lead of the half, 47-46, on a three-point play by Woods with 11:41 remaining.
Trailing 51-50 with 8:52 left, the Catamounts used an 8-0 run for a 58-51 advantage with just over six minutes to play. A Houser layup on the next VMI possession brought the Keydets within five points before Claude sank two free throws to push the Catamount lead back to seven, 60-53, with 5:31 remaining. The Keydets pulled within two, 62-60, via a Bradley layup with 1:47 to go but would get no closer as WCU responded with a 7-2 run to gain separation in the closing moments.
VMI held a 38-32 edge in rebounds, but the Keydets committed 15 turnovers which resulted in 28 Catamount points. WCU had 11 turnovers that led to seven VMI points. The Keydets finished the game 27-for-59 (46 percent) from the field, 4-for-13 (31 percent) behind the 3-point line, and 7-for-9 (78 percent) at the free throw line. WCU was 25-for-57 (44 percent) from the field, 5-for-27 (19 percent) behind the arc, and 16-for-26 (62 percent) at the charity stripe.
WCU returns to Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center next week for a two-game homestand beginning with a showdown against Samford on Wednesday (Feb. 1) at 7 p.m.
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