Cullowhee, N.C. – Tre Jackson led five Catamounts in double figures as Western Carolina cruised to its fourth-straight win on Thursday, shooting past the Brescia University Bearcats 85-47 in nonconference play on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
 
WCU (10-2) hit the 10-win plateau before the holiday break for the first time since 2009-10 as that Catamount squad was also 10-2 on its way to starting the year 12-2 overall.
 
Jackson canned four 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 18 points while Vonterius Woolbright collected his NCAA-leading ninth double-double of the year with 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds that included five on the offensive boards to pace the Catamounts. Woolbright finished three assists shy of a triple-double, dishing out seven assists with six of the helpers coming in the first half while Jackson handed out four assists.
 
Russell Jones Jr. matched Jackson with four made 3-pointers in tying DJ Campbell with 14 points apiece with Campbell collecting a couple of highlight-reel slam dunks on his way back into double figures. Bernard Pelote came off the bench to score 11 with a pair of long-range triples. Charles Lampten pulled down nine rebounds including four on the offensive end for his best day on the glass as a Catamount, adding a pair of blocks to match front-court counterpart Corneilous Williams.
 
All told eight different Catamounts recorded points in the winning effort as WCU shot right at 50 percent from the field for the game.
 
Brescia, which classifies the game as an exhibition and does not count it against their seasonal record, finished with two in double figures as Cory Gardner came off the bench for a team-best 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Taeron Hogg scored 11 including one of the squad's two made 3-pointers (2-for-9). Mark Cooper finished with seven points for the visitors with both Hogg and Darryl Jordan matching for a team-high five rebounds.
 
Scoring the game's first nine points, Western Carolina jumped out to a double-digit lead just over four minutes into the first half. The advantage ballooned to a half-high 13 at the 11:34 mark before consecutive buckets by Brescia's Gardner trimmed the margin back down to nine with 9:39 showing on the Ramsey Center clock. Jones Jr. nailed a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to push the lead back into double figures at 12.
 
The Bearcats continued to scratch their way back, again pulling to within nine points at 28-19 with 6:21 to play before the halftime break. But in similar fashion, Jones Jr. responded with a 3-pointer that pushed the lead back to double digits where it stayed the remainder of the contest. Sparked by the Jones triple, WCU closed the first half on a 19-to-4 run to hit the locker room up 47-23.
 
Hogg connected on the first basket of the second half 90 seconds in to pull Brescia to within 22, but it was as close as the NAIA Bearcats could close the remainder of the game. WCU took a game-high 39-point, 79-40, edge on a Pelote 3-pointer at the five-minute mark before the Bearcats scored seven of the game's final 13 points to provide the final tally, 85-47.
 
Western Carolina held a decided edge on the glass on Thursday, outrebounding Brescia 49-to-32 and the Catamounts cashed in 13 offensive rebounds for 20 second-chance points that included a 40-20 advantage in points in the paint.
 
Western Carolina heads into the nine-day holiday break before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 30, in the squad's final game of the 2023 calendar year, hosting King University in the back end of a Catamount hoops doubleheader. The women's team raises the curtain on the twin bill in search of back-to-back wins by hosting Southern Wesleyan at 1 p.m. with the men's squad looking for its fifth-straight victory as it entertains King University with a 4 p.m. start.
 
Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with both live audio from the Catamount Sports Network and live stats available at CatamountSports.com.
 
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