Cullowhee, N.C. – Vonterius Woolbright led four Catamounts in double figures with his team-best sixth double-double of the season as Western Carolina used a strong defensive effort and a hot-shooting performance to power past mountain rival UNC Asheville 78-63 on Ingles Court in the Ramsey Center. The Catamounts snapped a two-game slide on a day it honored former standout and 12-year NBA veteran Kevin Martin, raising his No. 32 to the rafters.
 
Woolbright finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds to collect his sixth 20-point scoring performance of the season, reaching double figures for the ninth time. The Albany, Ga., product added seven assists to a busy stat line. Bernard Pelote finished with 13 points off the bench on 6-of-8 shooting with Tre Jackson and DJ Campbell both pumping in a dozen points apiece in the winning effort. Russell Jones Jr. just missed double figures with eight points and a couple of helpers for WCU.
 
Morganton, N.C. product Fletcher Abee led UNC Asheville with 21 points including five made 3-pointers before being sidelined by injury with Big South Preseason Player of the Year Drew Pember finishing with 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists as the 'Dogs suffered their second-straight loss.
 
The Catamounts shot 55 percent from the floor in both halves including a combined 45 percent from beyond the arc in connecting on 10 made 3-pointers in the winning effort. Additionally, the Catamounts dominated inside the paint, scoring 44 points in the lane while limiting the Bulldogs to just 16. WCU held the Bulldogs to 37.5 percent shooting from the field – the second-lowest by an opponent this season – with UNCA held to a season-low 63 points, 20 points below its seasonal average entering the game.
 
The win for Western Carolina (7-2) snapped a short two-game seasonal slide after opening the season with a six-game win streak and also ended a two-game drought in the head-to-head series with Asheville.
 
Trailing by five after three minutes of clock time as the Bulldogs rattled off the first five points of the game, the Catamounts rallied with a Jackson triple and a layup in the paint by Woolbright to even the game at five apiece near the 16-minute mark. Tied at seven three minutes later, the Catamounts took the lead for what proved to be for good on a steal and fast-break layup by Kamar Robertson.
 
WCU methodically built its lead to double figures at 12 points with five minutes to play before the halftime break and took a half-high 15-point at 32-17 lead a minute later at the four-minute timeout. UNC Asheville scored 12 of the next 16 points to close to within nine before Corneilous Williams slammed home a feed from Robertson to give WCU the nine-point, 38-29 halftime lead.
 
Out of the locker room, Asheville managed to close to within six as Abee scored the first five points for the Bulldogs before the Catamounts used a Campbell 3-pointer to ignite a 7-0 spurt to reclaim a 13-point edge. WCU twice took 15-point advantages early in the final stanza, but the Bulldogs would not go away. Abee connected on his fifth 3-pointer to pull the visitors to within eight, 58-50, midway through the second half.
 
Asheville (5-5) would again pull to within eight points at 60-52 on a jumper by Pember with 8:45 to play, but the Catamounts kept finding answers in keeping the Bulldogs at arm's length. WCU built a game-high 17-point lead on a theft and fastbreak layup by Woolbright around the six-minute mark and the lead never sunk below double digits for the remainder of the game as the Catamounts scored their seventh-straight home win dating back to last season.
 
Western Carolina is idle through next week, returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 16 with a late afternoon tilt against USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C. With a 4:30 p.m. tip-off on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), the match-up with the Spartans closes a run of four straight games against teams from the Big South Conference. The game will also be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with live streaming audio online at CatamountSports.com, and can be heard locally on Sylva's 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC The River.
 
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