Asheville, N.C. – Vonterius Woolbright knotted Saturday's last quarterfinal game at 69 with a driving layup inside the final 30 seconds of regulation to force overtime for a second-straight season against Furman in the Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championship. However, the Paladins recorded the game's final three points including a go-ahead layup by Carter Whitt and an insurance free throw by Marcus Foster as the fifth-seeded Paladins outlasted No. 4 seed Western Carolina 79-76 at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville.
 
After sending the game to overtime, Woolbright again scored the game-tying bucket in the extra session with two points in the paint to pull the Catamounts even at 76. But on the ensuing possession, Carter Whitt capitalized on the WCU defense being pulled away by guard JP Pegues as Whitt's driving lay-up put Furman ahead 78-76. The Catamounts missed their final three shots from the floor including a long 3-point attempt by Russell Jones Jr. from the top of the key with the rebound battle essentially running out the final seconds of the clock.
 
Furman (17-15) advances to face top-seeded Samford on Sunday afternoon in the first of two SoCon semifinals with tip-off at 4 p.m. Western Carolina sees its tournament end with a 22-10 seasonal record, just the second 20-win season in Catamount men's basketball's NCAA Division I history.
 
Saturday's competitive seasonal rubber match saw 16 ties and five lead changes. The Catamounts had the only double-digit lead, enjoying a 12-point cushion with Furman taking its best lead of just four points near the midway point of the second half. It was the second-consecutive season that the two purple-clad SoCon squads needed extra time on the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville court in the postseason classic with WCU falling to 0-6 all-time against the Paladins in the conference tournament after consecutive three-point defeats – 83-80 in 2023 and 79-76 this year.
 
"First off, congratulations to Furman. It seems like every time we've played those guys it has been a battle," said WCU head coach Justin Gray during his postgame press conference. "We wanted to come out and play our brand of basketball and I think we did that. I'm proud of these guys. They do everything we ask them to do. It sucks (to not advance), but we have changed the brand of Western Carolina basketball for sure."
 
Hot out of the gates in Saturday's first half, graduate transfer Kamar Robertson scored a season-high 17 points including three 3-pointers to pace the Catamounts with Tre Jackson canning three triples to finish with 15. A focus of Furman's defensive game plan, Woolbright was held in check most of the night until the SoCon's Player of the Year began to take over late. The Albany, Ga., product nearly collected a third-consecutive triple-double, finishing with 11 points, 10 rebounds – all on the defensive end – while dishing out nine assists.
 
Woolbright finished the season by scoring in double figures in all 32 of the seasonal games while posting his 27th double-double of the season.
 
Jones Jr. and Bernard Pelote both chipped in nine points for the Catamounts with Colin Granger (7) and DJ Campbell (6) combining for 13 off the bench as the Catamount reserves outscored Furman's 22-to-15.
 
Pegues led all scorers and three Paladins in double figures with a game-high 28 points including six made 3-pointers while Marcus Foster (18 pts) and PJay Smith (12 pts) also finished with double-digit scoring. Alex Williams added eight points with a team-high tying seven rebounds, matching Foster.
 
Both teams started Saturday's game strong from the field as the Catamounts shot a sizzling 58.6 percent from the floor in the first half, connecting on 17-of-29 attempts including 8-of-15 (53%) from beyond the 3-point arc. The Paladins made nine 3-pointers on 50 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
 
After trading 3-pointers on their opening possessions, the Catamounts used an 8-0 burst to grab an early 11-3 lead as Robertson scored all eight points in the run with a pair of 3-pointers. Tied at 25, WCU scored the next nine points to pull ahead 34-25 until back-to-back triples by Jackson handed the Catamounts a half-high 12-point lead 40-28 with just under five minutes to play before the break. Furman closed the first half on a 12-to-2 run that included four made 3-pointers – two by Pegues and two by Smith – to cut the Catamount advantage to two entering the halftime locker room, 42-40.
 
Tying the game four times through the first five minutes of the second half, Furman managed its first lead at the 14:09 mark as Foster cashed-in an offensive rebound for a deuce in the paint. The Paladins then took its biggest lead of the game at four points at the 12:29 mark and again with 8:17 showing as the game hovered within a possession much of the second half.
 
WCU managed to take a four-point lead with 2:27 remaining in regulation, but back-to-back buckets by Foster tied the game at 67 before Garrett Hein put Furman in front 69-67. Woolbright tied the game with Carter Whitt missing a would-be game-winning layup just before the buzzer that sent the teams to overtime.
 
Early in the extra session, Pegues created separation with a 3-pointer that pushed Furman ahead 74-71 – but Woolbright answered with a three-point play to even things again at 74. After trading buckets by Foster and Woolbright, Whitt connected on what proved to be the game-winning layup with Foster connecting on 1-of-2 free throws that provided the final tally.
 
"Unbelievable college basketball game," said Furman head coach Bob Richey. "We knew coming in we would have to do a much better job on (Vonterius) Woolbright, the player of the year. We anticipated (WCU's strong start) and we talked about it this morning. They lost on a heartbreaker to us last year and give them credit because a lot of those guys came back. We said that they're going to be hungry, they've got a lot of guys who came back and are going to be hungry. (WCU) got going a little bit, but as my old boss used to say, 'if you're going to get down, get down early.'"
 
Western Carolina matched its seasonal average in the opening 20 minutes with eight made 3-pointers but did not connect on a triple after intermission, attempting just two from beyond the arc in the second half and a pair in OT. Furman had nine 3-pointers in the first half, adding just two on 11 second-half offerings. The Paladins outscored the Catamounts 10-to-6 from the free throw line as Furman attempted 16 and WCU had 11 charity tosses.
 
The loss was just WCU's third this season when leading at halftime, finishing the year 19-3 when carrying the advantage into the locker room.
 
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