Cookeville, Tenn. – Trailing by four with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, Western Carolina completed its second-half comeback by scoring 10 of the game's final 12 points to rally past homestanding Tennessee Tech 69-65 at the Hooper Eblen Center. The red-hot Catamounts remained perfect on the season by overcoming a nine-point second-half deficit in scoring the nonconference road victory.
 
Unblemished through its first six games, Western Carolina matched the program's best start since the 1965-66 season when the Catamounts also started 6-0.
 
Senior guard Vonterius Woolbright paced three Catamounts in double figures with his fourth double-double of the season, finishing with his third 20-point performance with 22 points to compliment a career-high 16 rebounds, 14 coming on the defensive end. Woolbright added a team-best five assists. Returning after missing Sunday's win due to illness, senior Russell Jones Jr. pumped in 14 points with four 3-pointers for his third double-digit scoring effort, while sophomore DJ Campbell finished with a dozen.
 
Two Catamounts just missed the double-digit threshold as Tre Jackson and Bernard Pelote both scored nine apiece including a pair of late free throws by Jackson to help seal the win.
 
Tennessee Tech (2-5) put four in double figures with preseason All-OVC selection Jayvis Harvey leading the way with 17 points with David Early scoring 15 and Josiah Davis finishing with 14. Daniel Egbuniwe posted a double-double with 13 points and a team-best 10 rebounds, adding four assists.
 
Tuesday's game failed to follow the same script written for the Catamounts over the first five games of its six-game season-opening winning streak. WCU rarely trailed over its first five games including being behind just 27 seconds in the road win at Notre Dame and leading wire-to-wire against North Alabama.  The Catamounts took their largest lead of the game at five points on an alley-oop dunk by Pelote on a feed from Campbell with six minutes remaining in the first half. Tech then reclaimed the lead at 3:42 of the opening stanza and did not trail again until late in the second half.
 
After surrendering its advantage inside of the four-minute mark in the first half, WCU did not lead in the second until the 1:22 mark as Campbell converted a turnover into a go-ahead fast-break layup. During WCU's late push, the Catamounts dialed up 3-pointers from Pelote and Jackson in addition to Campbell's bucket with Jackson sealing the win on a pair of free throws inside the final 30 seconds.
 
The two teams endured 10 ties including nine in a see-saw first half and eight combined lead changes with neither team able to build a double-digit lead. The Golden Eagles broke a 26-26 tie by outscoring WCU 8-to-3 over the final three and a half minutes of the first half to carry a 34-29 edge into the halftime break.
 
Out of the locker room, Tennessee Tech built an eight-point lead on a 3-pointer by Harvey that was quickly answered by triples from WCU's Jones Jr. and Woolbright to make it a two-point game, 37-35. The home squad then used a 7-point spurt to grab a game-high nine-point edge, 44-35 four and a half minutes into the second half. Over the next 10 minutes, TTU managed to hold the Catamounts at arm's length with WCU closing to within two twice before Pelote nailed a turnaround jumper to knot the game at 55 all.
 
The home squad managed to break the tie and hold anywhere from a two to four-point lead until WCU's go-ahead bucket by Campbell at the 1:22 mark. Jackson buried his lone 3-point shot to give the Catamounts the four-point, 67-63, edge. TTU tallied a pair of Harvey free throws answered by two from Jackson that provided the final tally. The Golden Eagles had two looks inside the final 13 seconds, but Harvey missed a shot in the lane and Grant Strong misfired from range with Pelote boarding the final miss.
 
Both teams managed to shoot 48 percent from the field with the Catamounts tallying an 8-to-5 edge in made 3-pointers. WCU owned the glass to the tune of 39-to-27, limiting Tennessee Tech to just one offensive rebound while posting eight of its own on the offensive glass. The Catamounts shot a season-low seven free throws, connecting on just three – also the fewest this season.
 
Western Carolina continues its three-game road swing as it opens the Big South portion of the nonconference season tour as the next four foes each compete in the rival conference. The Catamounts travel to Boiling Springs, N.C., on Saturday (Dec. 2) for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Gardner-Webb (3-4), which plays at Queens on Wednesday. Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network and live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
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