Macon, Ga. – Senior Bernard Pelote led three Catamounts in double figures with 17 points on Saturday afternoon, but Mercer outscored Western Carolina 9-to-3 run over the final three minutes to pull away for an 81-69 victory in the regular-season finale for both squads at the Hawkins Arena.
With Saturday's result and the end of the 2024-25 regular season, the Catamounts and Bears are slated for a third seasonal meeting in the opening round of the 2025 Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship. WCU and Mercer raise the curtain on the men's tournament on Friday, March 7, at 5 p.m. from the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville.
Pelote connected on six field goals including three from beyond the arc, pulling down five rebounds in the road defeat. Redshirt sophomore Marcus Kell continued his torrid pace over the final month of SoCon action with his 11th straight double-figure scoring outing with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for his third double-double over the same stretch. Classmate Cord Stansberry added 12 points with a pair of 3-pointers and matched Pelote with five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.
Ahmad Robinson led four Mercer players in double figures with a game-high 28 points with four 3-pointers. Alex Holt finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Tyler Johnson and Laurynas Vaistaras both tallied 11 points to round out the double-figure scoring for the Bears. Holt led Mercer on the glass with eight rebounds and was a force on the block with six rejections.
Pelote scored WCU's first five points with a dunk and a 3-pointer to open the game's first two minutes before Mercer put together an 11-to-2 burst to take a four-point edge at the under 16 media timeout. The Bears continued to answer Catamount 3-pointers over the next six minutes as Ice Emery, Fischer Brown, and Brandon Morgan connected from range but the Bears responded to lead 23-16 halfway through the half.
The Catamounts continued to try to cut into the Mercer (13-18, 6-12 SoCon) lead over the following six minutes, whittling the deficit down to five, 29-24, with 2:46 to play before the break. But the Bears used a 7-4 spurt over the final 2:24 to take a 36-28 halftime lead.
The two teams traded blows in the early going of the second half before the Bears used a 12-5 run to stretch the lead to 14, 56-42, with 11:30 to play. The Catamounts used a trio of threes from Kell, Pelote, and Stansberry to attempt to inch closer at 65-55 with 8:20 remaining, but the Bears used five quick points to race the lead back to a half-high of 15.
The Catamounts final burst came with an 11-to-2 run over a four-minute stretch to make it to a six-point game at 72-66 with three minutes showing on the clock. However, Mercer used a 9-to-3 burst to pull away for the 81-69 regular season finale.
Western Carolina finished at 37.5% (24-of-64) from the field, making 11 threes at a 35.5% clip and shot 10-of-15 from the stripe. Mercer went 26-of-65 (40%) as the hosts added 13 threes at a 48.1% rate while shooting 66.7% (16-of-24) at the free throw line. Mercer won the rebounding battle by eight, 48-40, with 12 offensive boards turning into 20 second-chance points. The Bears tallied eight blocks compared to four for WCU, as Mercer had a 20-5 edge in fast break scoring and a 24-20 lead in points in the paint.
Western Carolina (8-21, 4-14 SoCon) turns its attention to the 2025 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship set to begin on Friday, March 7, from the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville with a rematch against the eighth-seeded Bears at 5 p.m.
All tournament games will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available via a link on CatamountSports.com. The Catamount Sports Network will provide live audio coverage throughout the tournament, available online at CatamountSports.com and on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva. SoCon Tournament Central
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).
Catamount Coaches Show - 2025 SoCon Basketball Tournament Preview Show:
On Tuesday, March 4, Western Carolina head men's basketball coach Tim Craft and head women's basketball coach Jonathan Tsipis will lay out the road map for the Catamounts to win a title at the 2025 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championships with a special Facebook LIVE SoCon Tournament Preview Show, presented by Catamount Jaxe. The show airs on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Watch the show and interact with the coaches through the WCU official Facebook page.
