Johnson City, Tenn. – Western Carolina's Tidjiane Dioumassi connected on his third 3-pointer of the night in front of his own bench with 66 seconds left to extend the lead to six points, 82-76, as the Catamounts withstood the second-half push by the homestanding Buccaneers, including a late charge over the final minute of regulation to claim the season sweep of East Tennessee State, 90-88, on Thursday night at Freedom Hall. 

Down by as many as 16 points in the game and 15 in the second half, the Bucs battled back to cut the deficit to 79-76 with 1:21 to play. Dioumassi's late trey extended the lead with WCU holding on from the free throw line to claim the well-earned mountain rivalry victory over the Bucs, who entered the night ranked 18th nationally in the CollgeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
 
Thursday's win was keyed by a hot start as the Catamounts connected on their first six field goals in building a 16-4 lead that they never relinquished. WCU shot 61.3% (19-of-31)in the opening 20, fending off ETSU after intermission. The Purple & Gold have won nine of the last 10 meetings in the head-to-head series with ETSU. 

WCU's 90 points on Thursday mark the most for the Catamounts against a Division I opponent this season, as WCU improved to 8-3 when leading at the half and 8-4 when outrebounding opponents. The Catamounts are 6-2 when scoring at least 80 points and 3-1 in games decided by four points or fewer. WCU has now completed the regular-season sweep of ETSU in three of the last four years. WCU's road win is also just the ninth conceded by ETSU on its home court over the last three seasons.

Redshirt junior Cord Stansberry and graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro both scored a team-best 19 points as six Catamounts finished in double figures. Stansberry buried five field goals along with 9-of-12 at the charity stripe, while Soumaoro hit 5-of-9 threes. 

Redshirt junior Marcus Kell poured in 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, and freshman Samuel Dada posted his fourth double-double of the year in his first career start with 12 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 6-of-6 from the floor. Dioumassi poured in 11 points, burying all three of his attempts from deep. Freshman Tahlan Pettway picked up 10 points with a pair of triples.

Stansberry led WCU (8-12, 4-5 SoCon)  with five assists, while Soumaoro and Dada both had three. Pettway led the way with two steals as freshman Tayeshaun Smith added two rejections. 

Brian Taylor led five ETSU (15-7, 7-2 SoCon) players in double figures with a game-high 24 points, while Cam Morris III finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Blake Barkley added 13 points as he went 9-of-11 at the free throw line with a team-best seven rebounds. Jaylen Smith added 12 points as he connected four threes, followed by Allen Strothers with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting with five rebounds and two steals. 

The Catamounts wasted no time out of the locker room with the 16-4 burst over the opening four minutes to seize early control. The hosts answered with eight straight points before back-to-back buckets from Kell and Stansberry quickly doubled the lead to eight, 20-12, with 12:40 to play in the first half.

The two teams traded spurts that saw ETSU close the margin to 29-23 with 7:53 to play in the half before the Catamounts parlayed a 14-4 run of their own to stretch the lead into a 16-point advantage at 43-27 late in the opening 20 minutes. The Bucs used an 8-4 run to cut into the deficit before two late free throws allowed the Catamounts to head to the locker room up 14, 49-35. 

ETSU opened the second half fast with a fast 6-1 burst to cut the deficit to nine, 50-41, before Soumaoro buried a three to push the advantage back to double digits. 

The two squads then went back and forth over the next four minutes before the hosts whittled it to a nine-point game. WCU responded with back-to-back threes from Dioumassi and Soumaoro stretched the lead back out to 15, 66-51 with 11:54 to play. 

ETSU retaliated with seven straight to cut it to a 66-58 score before a three-point play from Justin Johnson pushed the lead back to 11. The Bucs continued to answer the bell with another 9-2 burst that saw the WCU advantage cut to four, 71-67, with still seven minutes to play. 

The two mountain rivals continued to battle as neither team was able to gain any footing, until a Stansberry dunk with 3:51 to play allowed the guests to stretch the lead to seven, 79-72. The Bucs connected on four straight free throws to cut it to a two-possession game the Dioumassi 3-pointer in front of the WCU bench to stretch the lead to six, 82-77 with 1:06 to play.

The teams traded free throws with Stansberry connecting on a pair of at the stripe before the Bucs got a four-point play to push the deficit down to two, 87-85. Soumaoro then sank  back-to-back at the stripe before a three from the hosts allowed the game to be a one-point game. A late free throw from Stansberry before the hosts' last-second heave was not answered as WCU held on for the 90-88 rivalry win. 

Western Carolina shot 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the floor, improving on its best in SoCon play, which included a 19-of-31 (61.3%) shooting effort in the opening 20 minutes that staked the Catamounts to a 14-point halftime lead. WCU buried 11 threes at a 42.3%, a season-best in league play for the second straight game. The Purple & Gold finished 21-of-28 (75%) at the free-throw line. 

ETSU shot 49.1% (26-of-53), including 59.3% (16-of-27) in the second half, as the hosts tried to battle back in Thursday's action. The Bucs buried eight threes at a 36.4% rate and were 28-of-35 (80%) at the stripe. 

WCU claimed a six-rebound advantage on the glass, 34-28, that included an 11-8 edge in offensive rebounds and a 14-9 margin in second-chance points. The Catamounts held the advantage inside by six, 36-30, and a 17-8 lead in fastbreak scoring. ETSU led 7-4 in steals and 17-15 in bench scoring. The Catamounts had an 18-14 lead in assists.

The Catamounts return home to close out January on Saturday, Jan. 31, with a 1 p.m. tip against Samford. The action with the Bulldogs will be a "Turn Back the Clock" as WCU welcomes home its basketball alum, including the Catamount 1996 Southern Conference Championship team. Replica jerseys reminiscent of the 1996 season are to be given away to the first 800 fans, courtesy of Champion Credit Union.  

The action with the Bulldogs will be shown on ESPN+ (a paid subscription is required). Streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network and live stats will be available online on CatamountSports.com.

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