Cullowhee, N.C. – Following a grueling two-game season-opening road swing, Western Carolina men's basketball opens a season-long three-game homestand on Thursday night with a visit from NAIA counterpart Voorhees on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center with a 7 p.m. tip-off.
Thursday night's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live streaming audio broadcast from the Catamount Sports Network beginning at 6:30 p.m. and live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
Matchup: Voorhees (1-4) vs Western Carolina (0-2)
Date: Thursday, Nov. 13
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center (Cullowhee, N.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Audio: Catamount Sports Network
Twitter: @CatamountMBB
About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts closed out a tough two-game road swing last Saturday, falling at nationally-ranked and perennial powerhouse Duke, 95-54. Graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro led the Catamounts with 14 points, connecting on five field goals, including four from beyond the arc. Redshirt junior Marcus Kell poured in 11 points with seven rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Abdulai Fanta Kabba rounded out the double-figure scoring with a career-high tying 10 points to accompany seven boards.
Freshman Samuel Dada led the Catamounts with eight rebounds on Saturday in Durham, as the team is averaging 39.5 boards through the opening two games, ranking fourth in the league. Kell leads the way with 16 rebounds, followed by 13 from Dada and 11 from Kabba.
Three Catamounts made their collegiate debuts on Saturday in Durham as Drew Hollifield, Max Williams, and Tayeshaun Smith all appeared in the matchup against the Blue Devils, bringing WCU's total to nine players having either made their WCU or collegiate debuts over the season-opening two-game road trip. Six Catamounts made their WCU debuts in the season-opener last week in Cincinnati, including Soumaoro and Tidjiane Dioumassi, along with Kabba and Justin Johnson. At the same time, Tahlan Pettway and Samuel Dada saw action in their first collegiate contest.
Through the opening stack of games across the Southern Conference, Stansberry sits in a tie for seventh in the league in scoring, averaging 15.0 in the opening two contests. Kell sits in eighth in offensive rebounds with seven, followed in a tie for ninth by Dada with six.
Scouting the Opposition:
Voorhees is a member of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) within the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). They share affiliation in the 15-team HBCUAC with Stillman, Tougaloo, Philander Smith, Dillard, Talladega, SUNO, Huston-Tillotson, Wilberforce, Wiley, Fisk, Paul Quinn, Rust, Virgin Islands, and Oakwood.
Voorhees (1-4) comes to Cullowhee after a 68-57 home-opening victory over Morris College last Saturday. The Tigers snapped a four-game skid with defeats to Columbia International (69-67), Brewton-Parker Christian (84-53), Morris College (68-64), and Point (99-80) before winning the rematch with Morris last time out.
The Tigers finished 7-20 last season with a 4-14 league mark, falling in the opening round of the HBCUAC tournament to Philander Smith out of Little Rock, Ark.
Senior guard Omari Bryon leads the Tigers, averaging 14.0 points per game having reached double figures in all four games he's played to date, shooting 54.2% (13-of-24) from deep. Junior guard Xavier Finney has posted 13.3 points per contest, filling the basket at a 51.6% clip from the field and 50% from 3-point range. Finney also leads the Tigers on the glass, averaging 5.0 boards per game, while dishing out a team-best 1.8 assists per game.
Voorhees was picked 12th in the 15-team HBCUAC preseason poll.
Series History:
Western Carolina and Voorhees have met three times in the two schools' histories, with the most recent meeting back in January 1973, when the Catamounts earned a 106-78 victory in Cullowhee. WCU has eclipsed 106 points in all three matchups with the Tigers, with two played in Cullowhee and one in 1972 in Denmark, S.C.
Up Next:
Following Thursday's action in Cullowhee, the Catamounts continue their season-long three-game homestand on Sunday, Nov. 16, with a visit from ASUN foe Stetson in the front end of a WCU hoops doubleheader. Sunday's visit from the Hatters marks the first of two matchups for WCU in the ASUN-SoCon Challenge.
Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center and opens a full day of hoops, with the women's team set to welcome nationally ranked Oklahoma at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Both games on Sunday will be shown regionally through the Nexstar family of stations (check local listings) and simulcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network and live stats will be available online on CatamountSports.com.
Season tickets for the home portion of the 2025-26 Catamount men's and women's basketball seasons are on sale now through the first-floor Ramsey Center Ticket Office, by phone at (828) 227-2401, and online at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets. Options include tickets for men's or women's and an "all-hoops" package for every home game in the Ramsey Center for both squads. Single-game tickets for both squads are also on sale.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's basketball and WCU Athletics through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@catamountmbb @wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@CatamountMBB @catamounts).
