Cullowhee, N.C. – Coming off a successful three-game home win streak, Western Carolina men's basketball heads to the Music City on Saturday looking to continue to hit the high note and conclude its portion of the ASUN-SoCon Challenge with a matchup against the Lipscomb Bisons at Allen Arena.

Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. in Nashville, Tenn., as Saturday's action will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available through a link online on CatamountSports.com.

Western Carolina earned the 76-65 victory in its opening game of the ASUN-SoCon scheduling alliance, defeating the Stetson Hatters last Sunday afternoon. Lipscomb fell to Mercer in the first game of the Challenge, 92-77, back on Nov. 9.

This marks year two of the league's agreement, which features 19 combined games from Nov. 9 through Nov. 29.

Men's Basketball Matchup: Western Carolina (3-2) at Lipscomb (1-4)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 22
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Site: Allen Arena (Nashville, Tenn.)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Live Video: ESPN+ (paid subscription required)
Twitter: @CatamountMBB

About Western Carolina:
The Catamounts closed out a season-long three-game homestand on Wednesday, outlasting mountain-rival UNC Asheville for a thrilling 80-73 victory. Redshirt junior Cord Stansberry hit a game-winning 3-pointer and four subsequent technical free throws that provided the final tally as part of a career-high 29 points to lead the Catamounts.

Freshman Tahlan Pettway added a career-high 12 points off the bench, connecting on 4-of-7 from the floor. Graduate transfer Tijidane Dioumassi added nine points, while redshirt junior Marcus Kell and graduate student Julien Soumaoro had eight points apiece.

The Catamounts have crashed the boards early in the 2025-26 season, averaging 41.4 boards per game through five contests, ranking second in the SoCon and just 1.4 rebounds behind league-leader Furman. Sophomore Abdulai Fanta Kabba leads the Catamounts on the glass with 37 rebounds at 7.4 boards per contest, ranking sixth in the SoCon. Kell and freshman Samuel Dada both have pulled 31 boards thus far in the 2025-26 season, as the trio has as least 12 offensive boards. WCU has won the rebounding battle in four of five games during the early season.

Through the opening two-plus weeks across the SoCon, Stansberry checks in ranking third in the league in scoring with 17.0 points per game following his career-best 29 on Wednesday. Soumaoro, with his 14.6 points per game, begins the weekend in a tie for sixth in scoring. He also sits among the league leaders in 3-point shooting, making 42.9% (14-of-34), with his 14 treys ranking him in a tie for third. Dioumassi is tied for fifth with nine steals.

Scouting the Opposition:
Lipscomb (1-4) enters play on Saturday following a 75-68 defeat to crosstown foe Belmont on Wednesday night. The Bisons' lone win in the 2025-26 season came against NAIA foe Bryan College (Tenn.) last Saturday. Lipscomb opened the season with losses to Vanderbilt (105-61), SoCon counterpart Mercer (92-77), and common opponent, UNC Asheville (69-64).

Lipscomb finished 25-10 last season, including a 14-4 record in the ASUN Conference. The Bisons earned the conference's automatic NCAA bid with a win over North Alabama before falling in the opening round of the NCAA tournament to Iowa State.

Head coach Kevin Carroll is in his first season in Nashville leading the Bisons program after spending seven seasons at DII Maryville (Mo.) and a pair of seasons at DII Trevecca Nazarene before beginning his tenure with Lipscomb.

Graduate student Grant Asman leads the Bisons on the offensive end, averaging 12.4 points per game, including a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds against UNC Asheville. Asman has connected on 43.3% (13-of-30) from range and pulled down 6.2 rebounds per game. Redshirt junior Ross Candelino has averaged 12.0 points per game, hitting double figures in four of the first five games with a season-high 17 against Mercer.

Redshirt junior Mateo Esmeraldo leads the ASUN with 31 assists thus far, with a double-double of 12 points, 11 assists against Mercer. Candelino leads with seven steals, followed by Asman with six blocks.

The Bisons were tabbed seventh in the league's coaches poll and fifth of 12 teams in the media poll, with nine media members tabbing them to win the ASUN.  Senior center Charlie Williams was tabbed on the league's preseason all-conference team.

Series History:
Western Carolina and Lipscomb have never met before Saturday's tilt in Nashville. The Catamounts have seven of the 12 teams in the current ASUN battling Queens, North Alabama, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay, Jacksonville, Stetson, and Bellarmine, as the Purple & Gold have wins over each of the seven schools and three wins over Stetson and Austin Peay.

Up Next:
Following Saturday's action in Nashville, the Catamounts close out November with a trip to High Point to battle the Big South preseason favorite on Saturday, Nov. 29, from HPU's Qubein Center. Tip-off for the post-Thanksgiving Day tilt with the Panthers is slated for 2 p.m. The battle with the Panthers will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available online on CatamountSports.com.

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).
 
2025 ASUN-SoCon Challenge Schedule & Results
SoCon (6 Wins) | ASUN (6 Wins)

ROUND 1 – SoCon 5 Wins | ASUN 4 Wins
Nov. 9 – Lipscomb at Mercer – Mercer, 92-77
Nov. 14 – The Citadel at West Georgia – West Georgia, 100-92
Nov. 15 – ETSU at North Alabama – ETSU 78-74
Nov. 15 – Austin Peay at UNCG – Austin Peay 69-63
Nov. 15 – Chattanooga at Florida Gulf Coast – FGCU 91-73
Nov. 15 – Jacksonville at VMI – Jacksonville 69-67
Nov. 15 – Wofford at Bellarmine – Wofford 94-86
Nov. 16 – Stetson at Western Carolina – WCU 76-65
Nov. 16 – Samford at Central Arkansas – Samford 84-77

ROUND 2 – SoCon 1 Wins | ASUN 2 Wins
Nov. 19 – Florida Gulf Coast at Samford – FGCU 77-62
Nov. 19 – North Florida at Wofford – Wofford 86-78
Nov. 20 – UNCG at Queens – Queens 101-94
Nov. 22 – Mercer at Eastern Kentucky
Nov. 22 – North Alabama at Chattanooga
Nov. 22 – VMI at Stetson
Nov. 22 – Western Carolina at Lipscomb
Nov. 23 – Queens at Furman
Nov. 24 – Bellarmine at The Citadel
Nov. 29 – Central Arkansas at ETSU