Asheville, N.C. – Seeking its first championship game berth since 2014, fifth-seeded Western Carolina battled top-seeded mountain rival East Tennessee State for 40 minutes in Sunday's first semifinal at the Harrah's Cherokee Center. However, the Buccaneers used a 12-to-2 run over the final three minutes, capped by an and-one free throw as ETSU edged the Catamounts 69-67 to advance at the 2026 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championship.
WCU controlled the opening 20 minutes, building a 17-point lead and carrying a 14-point cushion into the halftime locker room. ETSU, though, used a hot-shooting second 20 minutes, coupled with a tough shooting second half from the Catamounts. The combination allowed the Bucs to battle all the way back and earn the victory, punching their ticket into Monday night's final.
Western Carolina finishes the season at 15-16. ETSU (23-10) advances to face sixth-seeded Furman after the Paladins bounced UNCG in Sunday's second semifinal. The winner on Monday night earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Marcus Kell led a trio of Catamounts in double figures with 18 points, connecting on six field goals in the defeat. Cord Stansberry added 16 points and a team-best seven boards, finishing a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line. Tidjiane Dioumassi poured in 14 points for WCU to round out the double-figure scoring. Tahlan Pettway just missed double figures with nine points and five rebounds.
The Catamounts flexed their muscles on the glass once again on Sunday afternoon, outrebounding ETSU 37-29, including a 13-7 edge in offensive rebounds. WCU was limited to just nine second-chance points off its 13 offensive boards, though. Stansberry led the way with seven rebounds as seven different players had at least two boards, with WCU spreading the glass crashing around evenly.
Brian Taylor led four Bucs in double figures with a game-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Blake Barkley added 19 points, while Jaylen Smith finished with 13, and Jordan McCullum totaled 11. Barkley grabbed a game-best eight boards, while Cam Morris III and McCullum each had six boards.
A tight battle ensued early between the two mountain rivals with a pair of early ties in the opening six minutes before a 10-3 spurt behind a quartet of Catamounts pushed the lead to 17-10 at the 11:30 mark of the opening half. Following a quick three from the Bucs, WCU put together a 14-4 burst over the next seven minutes with 3-pointers from Pettway and Stansberry, allowing the Catamounts to jump out to the 31-17 lead.
WCU pushed the lead to a game-high 17 twice in the final three minutes of the first half before ETSU closed the gap, sending the teams to the halftime locker room at 38-24 in favor of Western Carolina.
Kell led the WCU with a 5-of-8 shooting performance from the field in the first half, totaling a game-high 11 points as the Catamounts went 14-of-28 from the floor with six 3-pointers at a 42.9% clip.
The opening five minutes of the second half saw ETSU slowly battle back and chip away at the deficit, cutting it to eight, 48-40, around the first media break. Western Carolina responded quickly with a 7-to-2 spurt of its own to quickly push the lead back to double digits at 13, 55-42.
Both teams went back and forth for the next several minutes as each side looked to create separation or battle back. The Bucs made it a seven-point game, 56-49, with 9:09 to play. After Kell extended the Catamount lead back to 10 with 8:16 to play, the Bucs used six quick points, including a three from Taylor at the 6:47 mark, to close to within four, 59-55.
Stansberry hit four free throws, including a three-point play, as Western Carolina quickly extended the lead back out to 63-55 with 4:59 to play. But then, after the teams traded free throws to keep it an eight-point game, the Bucs began their climb back.
ETSU used a 12-2 run over the final 2:48 with a Barkley old-fashioned 3-point play and a pair of late free throws capping the rally to flip the script and slide into Monday night's championship game.
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