Cullowhee, N.C. – Freshman Tahlan Pettway scored a game-high 23 points to pace five Catamounts in double figures as Western Carolina men's basketball closed the regular season on a six-game winning streak, capping it with a commanding 86-67 victory on Saturday night over chromatic rival Furman on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
Trailing by six, 26-20 with 5:11 to play in the first half, the Catamounts closed on a 17-to-4 run to flip the scoreboard, leading by seven at the break, and then never looked back. WCU held the advantage throughout the second half on the way to a 19-point victory over the Paladins. The regular season sweep of the Paladins is the first for Western Carolina since the 2008-09 season.
With Saturday's win, coupled with action around the final day of the regular season, the Catamounts secured the fifth seed in next week's 2026 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championship quarterfinals. WCU faces fourth-seeded Mercer on Saturday, March 7, at 8:30 p.m. at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville. The Catamounts and Bears split the regular-season matchups, with the teams winning on their home floor.
?Saturday's win also improved on the longest win streak in Southern Conference play for the Catamounts since the 2010-11 season, when the Purple & Gold won seven in a row down the home stretch.
?Pettway just missed his career-high with 23 points, finishing 8-for-12 from the floor with four 3-pointers. He also added three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Redshirt junior Cord Stansberry added 16 points on six field goals, along with four rebounds and a team-best four assists.
Graduate transfer Tidjiane Dioumassi finished with 13 points and six rebounds, while freshman Samuel Dada finished off his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and a team-best 10 rebounds. Kell rounded out the five in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Also, for the Catamounts, sophomore transfer Justin Johnson narrowly missed double figures off the bench with eight points. Classmate Abdulai Fanta Kabba tallied a team-best two blocks, along with four points and three offensive rebounds.
Post Cooper Bowser, who didn't play in the first meeting in Greenville, S.C., led three Paladins in double figures with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while adding four rebounds and three blocks. Eddrin Bronson finished with 16 points, and freshman Alex Wilkins added 14 points. Asa Thomas led the Paladins with seven rebounds as four players dished out two assists.
Furman (19-12, 10-8 SoCon) started fast on Saturday with a 14-5 run over the opening six plus minutes to seize early control before WCU cobbled together a 9-2 burst that evened the score at 16 halfway through the first half. The Paladins responded with 10 of the next 14 points to extend the lead to six, 26-20.
The Catamounts then closed on a 17-4 run, including scoring the final seven points of the half to take a 37-30 lead to the halftime locker room. WCU has held the halftime advantage throughout its current six-game win streak.
The guests responded out of the halftime locker room with a 9-5 spurt that cut the WCU lead to three, 42-39, just four minutes into the second half. Furman wouldn't get the contest any closer on Saturday, though, as the Catamounts responded with an 11-to-5 spurt to extend the lead quickly back to nine, 53-44, just three minutes later.
The Paladins managed to whittle the margin down to six, 56-50, halfway through the second half, but were unable to get any closer over the final 10. WCU outscored Furman during a 15-to-7 run that saw the lead grow to 14, 71-57. The Catamounts kept their foot on the accelerator with another 15-to-6 burst that saw the lead swell to a game-high 23 before ultimately closing out at 86-67.
WCU finished the contest shooting 50.8% (32-of-63) from the field, including 58.1% (18-of-31) in the second half, as they outscored the Paladins by 12 in the second half. On a night when it honored Dr. Ronnie Carr, who made the first-ever 3-pointer shot in college basketball, WCU buried nine 3-pointers at a 39.1% clip. Furman finished at 54.7% (29-of-53) from the floor, making six threes at a 35.3% rate, and struggled from the free-throw line, going just 3-of-12.
In a battle between two of the best rebounding teams in the league, the Catamounts controlled the glass by 14, 40-26, with a 14-4 edge on the offensive boards. The Catamounts used that advantage to outscore Furman 24-top-4 in second-chance points. Saturday's game was a battle in the paint, as the guests had a 46-40 edge and a 23-12 lead in bench scoring. WCU forced nine turnovers and turned those into 11 points, while the Catamounts had just four giveaways, which became two points.
The Catamounts climbed to 14-3 when leading at the half and improved to 14-5 when outrebounding their opponents, including a 10-4 mark in SoCon play. WCU climbed to 11-2 when scoring over 80 points this season, as Saturday marked the ninth time in league play that the Purple & Gold have eclipsed that mark.
Western Carolina men's basketball additionally honored its 2025-26 senior class as Vernon Collins, Marcus Kell, and Julien Soumaoro were recognized before the start of the home finale. WCU also honored its senior cheerleaders, and members of its creative media team during the game.
Western Carolina (14-15, 10-8 SoCon) now turns its attention to the 2026 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship set to begin on Friday, March 6, at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville. WCU begins its pursuit of a championship on Saturday, March 7, against fourth-seeded Mercer with tip-off slated for approximately 8:30 p.m.
All tournament games will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with Saturday's quarterfinal to also appear on South Carolina Education Television (SCETV). Live stats for each game will be available via a link on CatamountSports.com.
The Catamount Sports Network will provide live audio coverage throughout the tournament and is available online at CatamountSports.com and on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva.
The Catamount Club's Catamount Central (RSVP link) will again be at The Bier Garden (46 Haywood St.) in Asheville ahead of the men's first game.
SoCon Tournament Central
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