Cullowhee, N.C. – Redshirt junior Cord Stansberry led a trio of Catamounts in double figures with 13 points on Sunday afternoon against Samford. However, the visiting Bulldogs opened the second half with a decisive 20-to-9 run to build an advantage and pulled away for the 88-74 victory on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. The Bulldog victory completed the season sweep of WCU.
Stansberry connected on six field goals, adding three rebounds and an assist. Graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-4 from deep in the defeat. He also finished with four rebounds and a team-best three assists.
Freshman Tahlan Pettway scored in double figures for the second straight game with 10 points, with redshirt junior Marcus Kell and graduate transfer Tidjiane Dioumassi both just missing double figures with nine points apiece, and Justin Johnson scoring eight off the bench. Kell pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
Samford post Dylan Faulkner, who missed the first matchup with the Catamounts in Birmingham, made his presence felt on Sunday with a double-double, including a game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds. The league's leading scorer, Jadin Booth, poured in 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 3-of-5 from deep to accompany three rebounds and three helpers.
Isaiah Campbell-Finch added 13 points, Zion Wilburn scored 11, and Cade Norris just missed the double-dip with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Catamounts got the early advantage with five of the opening seven points before a 10-2 Bulldogs spurt allowed the guests to seize control of the contest. Johnson poured in back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit to one, 12-11, with 13:19 to play in the half.
The two teams traded spurts that allowed the Catamounts to edge in front 24-23 with 9:07 to play, but a 9-0 run by Samford gave the Bulldogs an eight-point lead, 32-24, with 6:57 to play before the break. WCU closed the half on a 15-9 run, closed by back-to-back 3-pointers from Soumaoro and Pettway in the final minute to make it 41-39 Bulldogs at halftime.
The second half opened with both teams trading blows with a Kell three at the 15:31 mark, allowing the deficit to sit at six, 54-48. Samford then used a 9-0 run to create separation and never looked back. WCU pushed back with four quick points only to have the Bulldogs rattle off a 13-4 run to stretch the lead to a game-high 20, 76-56 with 6:21 to play.
The Catamounts continued to fight over the final six minutes with an 11-4 spurt, including six straight that cut the score to 80-67 with 3:16 to go. Stansberry scored five in a row to trim the deficit to 11, 83-72, but Samford (11-12, 4-6 SoCon) closed with five of the final seven points to claim the 88-74 win in Cullowhee.
Western Carolina was held to 38.5 percent (25-of-65) from the field, which included just 31.6% (12-of-38) in the second half. The Catamounts buried six threes while connecting on 18-of-24 (75%) at the free-throw line. Samford was efficient from the floor, going 24-of-48 (50%), as the guest buried 10 threes at a 41.7% rate and were 30-of-41 (73.2%) at the stripe.
Samford held a 13-rebound advantage on the glass, 42-29, that included a 34-19 edge on the defensive glass. WCU held an advantage in bench scoring 27-24, led by 10 from Pettway, and a 32-28 lead in paint scoring. Both teams were held to eight second-chance points, with WCU committing seven turnovers compared to 12 from Samford.
Western Carolina (8-13, 4-6 SoCon) opens a two-game road swing in Greensboro on Wednesday, Feb. 4, with their first seasonal matchup against the UNCG Spartans. UNCG (8-15, 4-6 SoCon) comes into play on Wednesday on a three-game slide after falling 71-66 in overtime on Saturday to The Citadel in Charleston. The action with the Spartans is slated for a 7 p.m. start and will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network with live stats available online on CatamountSports.com.
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