Birmingham, Ala. – Redshirt sophomore Marcus Kell led the way with 19 points and junior Ice Emery added 15 points and four assists, but Western Carolina was unable to overcome a season-high 28 turnovers as the up-tempo Samford Bulldogs claimed a 93-72 victory in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
Kell posted his ninth straight game in double figures as he connected on 7-of-10 field goals, including 3-of-4 from range. The Rock Hill, S.C. native also dished out three assists and matched a career-high with three blocked shots. Emery, making his first start since Jan. 22, hit 5-of-9 from the field and three from beyond the arc for his 15 points. Emery and classmate Brandon Morgan led the team with four assists apiece.
Senior Bernard Pelote rounded out the WCU trio in double figures with 14 points with a pair of 3-pointers. He also pulled down six rebounds for WCU. Junior Chase McKey led the way on the glass with eight rebounds and recorded a career-high three steals.
Trey Fort poured in a game-high 24 points to lead Samford, adding five rebounds and a team-high five steals. He was strong early for the Bulldogs with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the opening half. Rylan Jones added 16 points along with a team-best seven assists and tied for the team lead with five rebounds. Jaden Brownell rounded out the double-figure scoring for the hosts with 11 points. Isaiah West and Josh Holloway joined Fort in the steals column with four thefts apiece.
Samford (21-8, 11-5 SoCon) fired out of the gates quickly on Saturday with a 10-3 run that gave the 'Dogs the early control. Pelote, Kell, and Fischer Brown scored seven of the ensuing 12 points to cut the deficit to five, 15-10 before six straight from Samford pushed the lead to double digits.
An 8-to-3 spurt spurred on by back-to-back 3-pointers by Emery cut the Bulldog lead to six, 24-18. However, it was followed by a 12-4 burst from the hosts to stretch the lead to a half-high 14, 36-22, with 5:28 to play before intermission. Back up 14, WCU scored six straight to close the half, trailing 44-36 at the break.
Out of the halftime locker room, Samford used a 12-to-2 run to quickly run the advantage to 18 points, 56-38 before WCU looked to mount a rally. The Catamounts answered with a 10-point edge on a 17-to-7 run over the next nine minutes to whittle the Samford advantage to eight, 63-55, with 8:30 to play.
Again, though, the Bulldogs outscored the Catamounts by 16 over the next four minutes on an 18-to-2 run to stretch the lead out to a game-high 24, 81-57. Samford didn't look back on the way to the league victory. WCU managed to trim the deficit to 18 but could get no closer as Samford finished off the 93-72 win on Saturday afternoon.
Western Carolina posted its best shooting performance of the league season on Saturday at 51% (26-of-51), connecting on nine 3-pointers at a 36% clip while converting just 11-of-20 at the free-throw line. Samford connected on 42.4% (36-of-85) from the floor as the Bulldogs made 13 threes and were 8-of-12 at the charity stripe.
Samford won the rebounding battle by five, 42-37, controlling the offensive glass to the tune of 18-to-5. The Bulldogs used those 18 offensive boards to outscore the Catamounts 25-6 in second-chance points. The Bulldogs outscored WCU in the paint 44-26. Among the biggest stat lines, though, were the 38 points Samford scored off the 28 forced turnovers.
Western Carolina (8-19, 4-12 SoCon) returns home for the final time in the 2024-25 regular season on Wednesday, Feb. 26, with a visit from Wofford. The home finale from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center is slated for a 7 p.m. tip. The matchup with the Terriers will be full of giveaways, as the first 400 students will receive a FREE purple WCU logo t-shirt, and the first 500 fans will receive a WCU keychain courtesy of Nathan Earwood.
Wednesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Live audio coverage through the Catamount Sports Network is available online at CatamountSports.com and on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva. Live stats are also available via a link on CatamountSports.com.
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