Asheville, N.C. – Fifth-seeded Western Carolina rallied back from a 17-point first-half deficit on Saturday night to advance in the 2026 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championship, out-slugging fourth-seeded Mercer 77-73 in a tightly-contested and highly-entertaining nightcap of an upset-heavy quarterfinal round at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville.
 
WCU additionally trailed by nine points midway through the second half before rallying to a five-point cushion with just over two minutes remaining. The game was tied with 1:26 to play before Marcus Kell handed the Catamounts the lead for good from the free throw line with 31 ticks remaining, and Cord Stansberry iced the win with four made charity tosses in the closing seconds.
 
Western Carolina (15-15) earned the right to face top-seed ETSU (22-10) in the first of two SoCon semifinals on Sunday, with tip-off at 4 p.m. ETSU bounced ninth-seeded The Citadel from the tournament earlier in the day with an 83-76 win. WCU took both ends of the home-and-home from the regular-season champion, winning 72-68 in Cullowhee on Jan. 14, and claiming a 90-88 victory over the Bucs in Johnson City on Jan. 29.
 
In Sunday's second semifinal, No. 7 UNCG faces No. 6 Furman at 6:30 p.m. The winners advance to Monday night's SoCon Championship game with a berth to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
   
"Just a great college basketball game, and I want to tip my hat to Mercer," said WCU head coach Tim Craft during his postgame press conference. "I'm really proud of our team. We didn't start either half well, particularly the first half. The way these guys responded, they've been so connected and together the last three weeks. It's hard to shake them up."
 
Tidjiane Dioumassi led four Catamounts in double figures with 21 points, nailing four 3-pointers in the winning effort. Tahlan Pettway scored 18 points to accompany five rebounds and five assists, while Kell finished with 15 points and seven boards. Stansberry added 13 points, with six coming from the free throw line.
 
Craft added, "Dioumassi put us on his back in that first half when we were struggling to score.  He wasn't going to be denied. It was awesome."

Overcoming an early deficit, the Catamounts dominated the glass in Saturday's win, outrebounding Mercer 53-to-29, including a 25-to-11 edge in offensive rebounds. WCU converted those 25 offensive boards into 27 second-chance points. Samuel Dada led the way with a game-high 14 rebounds, nine on the offensive end. Abdulai Fanta Kabba joined Kell with seven rebounds, posting four on the offensive end.
 
Mercer (19-13) put three players in double figures, led by Baraka Okojie with a game-high 26 points. Zaire Williams scored 18 points, while Brady Shoulders poured in 11 and Quinton Perkins II had eight for the Bears. Mighty Armani pulled down a team-best eight rebounds, coupled with six points, well below his seasonal averages.
 
Using strong shooting and smothering defense early, the Bears jumped out to a double-digit lead five minutes into Saturday's quarterfinal, converting a Zaire Williams layup for an 18-5 lead at the 13:47 mark of the opening half. Mercer maintained its cushion midway through the half, leading 24-9 at the 10-minute mark.
 
Down by 17, 28-11, with nine minutes remaining in the half, the Catamounts ramped up their defense and aggressiveness on the glass that spurred a 14-to-1 run over the next four minutes to close to within four, 29-25, with 5:14 to play before the break. Dioumassi converted a Stansberry dish for a fast-break 3-pointer at the 3:32 mark to claw the Catamounts back to within one, 33-32.
 
Pettway converted a Dioumassi pass for a mid-range jumper that handed WCU its first lead, 36-35, with 36 seconds remaining before the break. The ensuing defensive stop sent the partisan crowd into a frenzy as the Catamounts carried the one-point lead into the break.
 
All told, the Catamounts closed the final nine minutes of the first half on a 25-to-7 run to carry the one-point lead into the locker room.
 
Mercer scored 12 of the first 15 points of the second half to retake the lead and pulled ahead by eight, 47-39, only to see the Catamounts surge back to close to within a bucket at 47-45 at the 14:31 mark. Seven-straight points by the Bears, including 3-pointers from Okojie and Perkins II, saw Mercer's lead swell to a half-high nine, 54-45, with 12:47 to play and again at 58-49 at the 10:19 mark.
 
However, Western Carolina used a 10-0 run, including a 3-pointer by Kell, a Dada tip-in, and five points from Pettway to reclaim a one-point edge, 59-58, three minutes later.
 
Saturday's final five minutes saw the score tied three times, and neither team built more than a two-possession lead. Over the final 60 seconds, Mercer reclaimed a 1-point, 72-71, lead on a Williams free throw. Kell then pushed the Catamounts ahead for good with a pair of charity tosses with 31 ticks remaining. Defensive rebounds on Mercer's final two field goal attempts and four subsequently made free throws by Stansberry lifted WCU into the next round.
 
Sunday's semifinal matchup against ETSU will be broadcast on ESPNU and through the Watch ESPN app. Live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network, as well as live stats links, are available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
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