Cullowhee, N.C. – Tied at 68 with 12 seconds to play, redshirt junior Marcus Kell scored a second-chance layup to help push Western Carolina men's basketball past mountain rival East Tennessee State 72-68 to give the visiting Buccaneers their first league loss on Wednesday night on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center in Southern Conference play.
The Bucs took a 63-60 lead with 9:11 to play before the Catamounts closed collectively on a 12-to-5 run down the stretch to give WCU the four-point victory, improving to 5-1 on their home court. The Purple & Gold has won eight of the last nine in the head-to-head series with ETSU, including the last five games played in Cullowhee.
All told, the teams battled for 40 minutes on Wednesday, with no lead exceeding seven points, as the contest featured 10 lead changes and eight ties.
Redshirt junior Cord Stansberry poured in a team-high 20 points, finishing with seven field goals, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc, and adding five rebounds. Kell added 15 points and five rebounds, while freshman Samuel Dada picked up his second double-double in his last three outings and his team-best third on the season with 13 points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
Graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro added nine points with three from beyond the arc as classmate Tidjiane Dioumassi finished with eight points and a team-best five assists. Freshman Tahlan Pettway dished out four helpers as the WCU backcourt pair of Dioumassi and Pettway finished with nine assists and just two turnovers.
Brian Taylor led ETSU (12-6, 4-1 SoCon) with a game-high 23 points, including seven field goals and four 3-pointers, while adding six rebounds. Cam Morris III added 19 points, followed by Blake Barkley with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds to round out the trio in double figures. Morris III led the way with four assists as Jaylen Smith and Morris added three steals apiece, with Morris III picking up two blocks.
The Bucs gained the early advantage with a 9-4 burst out of the gates to take the early lead just five minutes in before a 7-2 response from the Catamounts evened the score at 11. ETSU answered with six of the next nine points before Stansberry, Dada, and Pettway put together seven unanswered to give WCU the 21-17 lead with 8:09 to play in the half.
The next four minutes saw the two teams go back-and-forth, with neither able to gain more than a four-point advantage, before the Catamounts used an 8-3 run to stretch the score to 36-29 with 2:15 to play. ETSU ramped up the pressure down the stretch with six unanswered points as Western Carolina carried a 36-35 advantage into intermission.
After the two teams traded buckets out of the locker room, ETSU put together an 8-4 burst to take a 48-45 lead just four minutes into the second half. Dioumassi and Kell quickly put WCU back in front before the Bucs scored seven of the next eight points to take a 55-50 lead, the largest lead of the game for the guests.
Stansberry put together a 6-1 run all by himself to even the contest at 56 before the Buccaneers connected on a quick triple to retake the three-point advantage. The two teams traded a pair of free throws following a 7-2 spurt from WCU, which saw the Catamounts take a 65-63 lead with 5:58 to go.
Both teams struggled to get to the basket over the final five minutes, as ETSU scored five of the next eight points before Kell beat the shot clock on an in-bounds layup, followed by Dada at the charity stripe, which allowed the hosts to take the 72-68 victory.
Western Carolina (6-10, 2-3 SoCon) shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the floor, posting a 15-of-29 (51.7%) in the opening 20 minutes. The Catamounts buried nine threes while making 9-of-12 free throws. ETSU finished at 38.6% (22-of-57) shooting with seven 3-pointers, and the Bucs buried 17-of-23 free throws (73.9%).
WCU controlled the glass at a 39-30 advantage with a 27-19 lead in defensive rebounds. The hosts held a 32-30 advantage in paint scoring, and had a 13-6 fast break scoring advantage, along with an 18-7 lead in bench scoring, led by Dada's 13 points off the bench.
On the season, WCU improved to 6-2 when leading at the half, 4-0 when holding opponents under 40% shooting, and 6-3 when outrebounding its opponents, while improving to 5-1 on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
The Catamounts continue the two-game Tennessee home swing with a visit from Chattanooga (8-10, 2-3 SoCon) on Saturday, Jan. 17. The action with the Mocs is slated for a 1 p.m. start and will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network and live stats will be available online on CatamountSports.com.
At halftime of Saturday's matchup against Chattanooga is the annual Diaper Derby, presented by New Generations Family Birthing Center at Harris Regional Hospital. Saturday's action will also include the Bouncing Bulldogs Halftime show.
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).
