Greensboro, N.C. – Four Catamounts scored in double figures on Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference action at UNC Greensboro, but Western Carolina's rally was unable to erase the Spartans' quick start to the second half as UNCG held off WCU for a tight, 74-70 decision at the First Horizon Coliseum.
Senior Bernard Pelote led the Catamounts with 17 points and added five rebounds while redshirt sophomore Marcus Kell recorded his first double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds to pace WCU. Kell connected on four field goals including a pair of 3-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Junior Ice Emery scored all 15 of his points in the second half as he caught fire midway through the frame, connecting on four threes. Redshirt sophomore Cord Stansberry rounded out the Catamount foursome in double figures with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Junior Brandon Morgan matched his season-high with five assists and freshman Fischer Brown tallied his first career multi-block game, leading the Catamounts with two rejections.
The Spartans had three in double figures led by Ronald Polite III who finished with a game-high 18 points. Donovan Atwell finished with 12 points and five rebounds, while Demetrius Davis rounded out the double-figure scoring for UNCG with 10 points. Jalen Breath just missed double figures with eight points but pulled down a game-high tying 11 rebounds.
After UNCG got the opening points of the game, the Catamounts answered with a 10-3 run to jump out to the five-point advantage just four minutes into Saturday's action. The Spartans responded quickly, though, with a 13-2 spurt over the next five minutes to claim the largest lead of the half at six, 18-12.
WCU answered back with 10 of the next 14 points to tie the contest at 22 with 6:01 to play in the opening half. Kell, Stansberry, and Collins combined to help spur the burst. Offense was hard to come by down the stretch for both teams as the hosts scored seven of the final 11 points to take a three-point, 29-26 lead to the intermission.
Out of the halftime locker room, the Spartans opened quickly, scoring the first six points as part of a 15-to-5 run to balloon the advantage to 13, 44-31, just five minutes into the second half. Three from Ice Emery and Brandon Morgan helped spark a 9-2 run to cut the Spartans' lead to six, 46-40, with 12:32 to play in regulation.
UNCG (16-9, 9-3 SoCon) quickly ran the lead back out to 10 before a 10-3 burst from WCU over the ensuing four minutes saw the Spartans advantage cut to three, 56-53, with 6:31 to play. The hosts had a quick answer that allowed the games margin to be pushed to seven on three occasions before back-to-back Pelote layups allowed the Catamounts to whittle the score to a 64-61 UNCG lead.
The Spartans sank a pair of free throws to make it a five-point lead, but Pelote answered with a 3-pointer that cut the score to just two. UNCG put together a quick four-point spurt before Emery continued his hot second half with a triple, but the Spartans continued to answer, and WCU couldn't get it any closer than two as the Spartans claimed a hard-fought 74-70 win on Saturday. Pelote had a look at a 3-pointer inside the final five seconds and was nearly fouled on the play, but the shot and the whistle would not go as regulation ended.
Western Carolina posted a 37.1% (23-of-62) shooting performance, making 12 threes at a 37.5% clip and going 12-of-13 (92.3%) from the free throw line. UNCG went 26-of-59 (44.1%) from the field while burying seven threes and went 15-of-20 from the charity stripe.
UNCG won a tight rebounding battle by two, 39-37, with a one-rebound edge in both offensive (9-8) and defensive (30-29). The Spartans outscored the Catamounts in bench points 32-18 and turned seven WCU turnovers into 16 points, while the Catamounts had seven points off seven turnovers. Led by Emery's 15 points off the bench, the fourth such occurrence for the Appleton, Wis. native, the Catamounts bench outscored the Spartans 21-18.
Western Carolina (6-17, 2-10 SoCon) returns home for their final two-game home swing of the 2024-25 season on Wednesday, Feb. 12, with a battle against mountain-rival ETSU. The matchup with the Bucs has a special 6 p.m. start time from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Wednesday's Black Out will feature a replica of WCU's black jerseys for the first 400 students, courtesy of The Everson.
Wednesday's game will be broadcast through the SoCon's NexStar agreement (check local listings) and simulcast 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.
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).
