Box Score Game Book (pdf)
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Wofford men’s basketball team was defeated 72-67 by Western Carolina at the Ramsey Center on Wednesday night. The game was the Southern Conference opener for both teams and Western Carolina used a 7-0 run to begin the second half for a lead they would not give up.
Wofford is 4-4 overall, while Western Carolina is 6-1 on the season. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman and Cameron Rundles, each with 18 points. Dahlman also led the team with eight rebounds. The Catamounts were led by Brandon Giles with 22 points and Mike Williams with13. Harouna Mutombo and Adrian Gailliard shared the team high with six rebounds.
“Western Carolina’s defense was good but I thought our offense was poor,” said head coach Mike Young. “I don’t think our ball movement was what it needed to be. We weren’t as aggressive with too many threes and not enough in the post. I don’t like the number that we took 49 field goals attempts and 22 of which were threes. We were excited about league play, but offensively we did not get it done for whatever reason.”
The Terriers had an 8-7 lead at the 15:44 mark, with Noah Dahlman scoring all eight points for Wofford. Dahlman added another bucket, which was followed by two free throws from Terry Martin and a lay-up from Tim Johnson for a 14-7 lead with 13:18 on the clock.
After the Catamounts cut the lead to two at 14-12, Wofford ran of the next seven points with shots by Dahlman, Loesing and Godzinski for a 21-12 lead with 8:20 left in the half. Over the next four minutes, Western Carolina went on a 10-0 run to take the lead at 22-21 after a bucket and free throw by Mike Williams. Wofford regained the lead with a pair of free throws by Corey Godzinski. The teams traded the lead for the final four minutes of the half, with the Catamounts up 29-28 at the break.
Western Carolina opened the second half with a 7-0 run to push the lead to 36-28 before Brad Loesing hit a jumper at 16:01 for Wofford’s first points of the half. Wofford pulled to within four points at 40-36, but back-to-back three pointers by Brandon Giles and Mike Williams made it a 46-36 score at the 10:04 mark.
The Terriers would pull to within six points on several occasions, but the Catamounts would always answer and kept the lead at ten points at the 6:22 mark with a 56-46 lead. A three by Cameron Rundles with 2:11 on the clock cut the lead to 63-59 and Wofford cut the lead to two at 63-61 after two free throws by Jamar Diggs. The Catamounts pushed the lead back to six points with 23 seconds left after four straight free throws. Wofford was able to cut the lead to 70-67 with eleven seconds left, but the Catamounts hit their final two free throws to make it a 72-67 final.
Wofford shot 36.7% from the floor and 18.2% from behind the arc. From the free throw line, the Terriers were 81.8%. The Catamounts shot 41.2% overall and 41.2% from three and were 76.7% from the line. Wofford had a 35-32 lead on rebounds and each team had 15 turnovers.
Junior Salters was held scoreless for the first time since November 18, 2006 against Jacksonville State, his fourth career game. The Terriers have not won at Western Carolina since 2001.
The Terriers will play at ninth-ranked Michigan State on Friday night in a game that will air on the Big Ten Network. Wofford returns home for a contest against Appalachian State at Benjamin Johnson Arena on Monday, December 7, the first of three-straight home games.
