Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina returns to the friendly confines of Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center on Saturday afternoon in the backend of a two-game home set, hosting the Mercer Bears in Southern Conference men's basketball action. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
Saturday's game is the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week with an over-the-air broadcast on the Nexstar family of stations (check local listings) and a simulcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Fans can also follow Saturday's game on the Catamount Sports Network with live streaming audio and live stats both available online at CatamountSports.com. Fans can also listen to the game locally on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva (wrgc.com).
 
Saturday's promotion is Youth Basketball Day, presented by First Citizens Bank. All youth basketball players grade seven and under receive FREE admission when players and coaches wear their jersey or team shirt to the box office. XPogo, the world's best extreme pogo entertainment group, will perform at halftime.

Western Carolina will also celebrate its men's basketball Alumni Day on Saturday with many of the Catamount greats from the past returning to Cullowhee for the annual celebration.
 
For tickets to WCU's home games, please visit CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets. 

Both teams enter Saturday's regionally-televised game riding victories in the midweek. WCU (17-7, 6-5 SoCon) halted a two-game slide with its gritty 71-64 win over The Citadel in Cullowhee on Wednesday while Mercer won its second in a row, upending Furman at home, 78-69, to snap an 18-game winless drought in that series history.
 
Vonterius Woolbright scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half and Tre Jackson converted a Woolbright dish for a late 3-pointer inside the game's final 20 seconds as WCU held off The Citadel 71-65. Jackson, who leads the SoCon and ranks 12th nationally with an average of 3.2 treys per game, hit four against the Bulldogs in scoring 18 points with Russell Jones Jr. chipping in 10 points and DJ Campbell adding seven in the winning effort.
 
Woolbright continues to lead four Catamounts in double-figure scoring with a conference-pacing 22.6 point per game average – fourth nationally – and leads in rebounding at 12.4 boards per contest, second in the NCAA entering the weekend. His 20 seasonal double-doubles continue to rank tied for first nationally with Akron's Enrique Freeman. Jackson ranks 15th in the SoCon with 13.8 points per game, with Campbell (19th, 12.2 ppg) and Jones Jr. (20th, 12.1 ppg).
 
Coming off consecutive home wins, Mercer (11-13, 4-7 SoCon) is looking to play its way back toward the first-round bye cutline at sixth place. WCU is currently amidst a three-way tie for fourth with Upstate foes Wofford and Furman who occupy positions four through six. The Bears have wins in three of their last four including taking down second-place UNCG on the road back on Jan. 27, just their third road victory in 10 attempts.
 
Ninth in the SoCon in scoring offense at 70.1 points per game, Mercer has just one player currently averaging double-digit scoring as Jalyn McCreary ranks ninth in the league at 15.4 points per game. He is coming off a 28-point performance against Furman, his 18th double-digit scoring outing of the year, and the fourth 20+ point showing this year. McCreary has averaged 29 ppg in his last two outings. The Bears have eight players averaging at least six points per game this season making them a difficult matchup. Jake Davis is just outside the double-digit threshold at 9.3 ppg and David Thomas at 8.4 ppg.
 
WCU won the first meeting against the Bears 64-52 in a defensive struggle in Macon, Ga., back on Jan. 13. Jones Jr. and Woolbright scored 14 points apiece and Jackson scored 10 to put a trio in double figures while Thomas and McCreary finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively for the Bears.
 
Collectively, the Catamounts used a balanced offensive attack and solid defense, limiting Mercer to just 32 percent shooting in the win. It was a decisive 14-to-2 run in the second half that built a double-digit lead for WCU which stood despite the Catamounts being held without a field goal over the game's final five minutes. WCU hit 5-of-7 from the free throw line to score the road victory.
 
Western Carolina has won three straight in the head-to-head series and has victories in four of the past five meetings against Mercer to take a 15-13 series lead. The Catamounts have won eight of the 11 (8-3) games played in Cullowhee and are riding a four-game home win streak against the Bears.
 
Following Saturday's home game, WCU hits the road in the midweek as it travels to league-leading Samford (21-3, 10-1 SoCon) which won on the road at second-place UNCG on Thursday, 78-69. Wednesday's game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU with a 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT tip-off. It's the second national broadcast for the Catamounts and Bulldogs as Samford escaped Cullowhee with a 75-71 win back on Jan. 16 on the CBS Sports Network.
 
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