Cullowhee, N.C. – Russell Jones Jr. scored all his game-high tying 21 points in the second half to lead three in double figures as Western Carolina rallied to complete the seasonal sweep of mountain-rival East Tennessee State with a 70-65 win on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Vonterius Woolbright picked up his NCAA-leading 23rd double-double of the season, matching his backcourt classmate with 21 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
 
Held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes, Jones Jr. opened the second half scoring with a 3-pointer to spark a 15-to-4 run. He finished 7-of-12 from the floor with three 3-pointers to help pace WCU to the second-half comeback. Woolbright collected 11 of his 21 points from the free throw line including five late charity tosses in securing his 18th 20-point performance of the season. He recorded his final rebound inside the game's final five seconds to collect the double-double.
 
DJ Campbell rounded out WCU's double-figure scorers with his second-straight double-digit effort with 12 points. Tre Jackson connected on a pair of 3-pointers to finish with eight points, adding three of WCU's four total steals.
 
Bernard Pelote boarded nine misses including three on the offensive end and seven in the first half, while Charles Lampten boarded six with three blocked shots on the defensive side.
 
ETSU put two in double figures with Ebby Asamoah posting a double-double with a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Quimari Peterson finished with 13 points, five boards, and four assists. Karon Boyd and Jadyn Parker both just missed double figures with nine points apiece in the loss.
 
ETSU (13-14, 5-9 SoCon) got off to a fast start on Saturday with an 11-2 run over the game's first four minutes. The Catamounts missed their first six shots until Colin Granger converted a Woolbright dish with a layup for the squad's first field goal to make it 11-4 five minutes in. The Bucs managed a half-high 10-point lead, 14-4, at the 13:15 mark. WCU then responded with a 13-2 burst over the next five minutes that included both of Jackson's triples as the Catamounts took their first lead of the night on a Pelote 3-pointer to lead for the first time, 17-16.
 
WCU's advantage was short-lived, though, as the guests used a 9-2 spurt to regain the lead and stretch it to a six-point edge at 25-19 with 4:48 to play in the half. The Catamounts chipped away at the deficit scoring six of the next nine points before a pair of late free throws gave the Bucs a 30-25 halftime lead.
 
Jones Jr. sparked the Catamounts out of the halftime locker room as WCU connected on five of its first seven shots as part of a 15-to-4 run and took a six-point, 40-24 lead just four minutes into the second half. ETSU had the counterpunch with an 11-4 burst over the next four minutes to reclaim the lead at 45-44 with 12 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
In a second half full of runs, Western Carolina responded with a 10-4 burst of its own over the next four minutes spurred by five points from Jones Jr. as the Catamounts took a 54-49 lead with eight minutes to go. ETSU again fought back, cutting it to a one-possession game on a pair of occasions before a Jones Jr. layup stretched the lead to four, 61-57 with five minutes to go.

Over the final five minutes, the game was tied on three additional three occasions at 61, 63, and for the last time at 65. The Catamounts then scored the last five points on Woolbright's free throws while forcing the Bucs to miss their last two field goals and one free throw attempt in the loss.
 
Western Carolina, which scored 45 second-half points on Saturday, won for just the second time this season when trailing at halftime, scoring its first league win after trailing at intermission. The Catamounts also extended their series win streak against ETSU to six straight, the longest for WCU in the 88-game series history.
 
The Catamounts had an eight-point edge from the free throw line, connecting on 19-of-22 (86.4%) free throws while ETSU managed just 11-of-19 (57.9%) from the stripe. WCU also hit three more 3-pointers, 7-to-4, in the winning effort despite the Bucs connecting on three more field goals (25-to-22).

Western Carolina hits the road for back-to-back games away from Cullowhee beginning in the midweek by traveling to Greensboro for a matchup with in-state conference rival UNCG. Tip-off from the Greensboro Coliseum in a nationally-televised game on the CBS Sports Network is scheduled for 6 p.m. The Catamounts then visit VMI in Lexington, Va., on Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. start at Cameron Hall.
 
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