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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In a battle between the top two defensive teams in the Southern Conference, the Wofford men's basketball team defeated Western Carolina 71-60 on Monday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers built an 18-point lead in the second half, but the Catamounts cut it to only two points with five minutes remaining with a 14-0 run. Wofford was able to close the game on a 14-5 run to earn the win.
Wofford is 8-10 on the season and 3-3 in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina is 11-9 overall and 4-1 in league play. The loss ended the Catamounts five-game winning streak. The Terriers were led by Karl Cochran with 23 points. Lee Skinner recorded his fourth-straight double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Spencer Collins added 15 points. The Catamounts were led by Trey Sumler with 20 points, going 4-of-7 from behind the arc.
"There is nothing easy and you know they are going to take a stab at you because they are too good in the backcourt with Trey Sumler," said head coach Mike Young. "We did not handle some things well and missed the front end of a couple one-and-ones. That was a much needed win and we really needed to get that one at home. We have not guarded well in recent games and lacked a toughness. We made things tough for Western Carolina tonight and to holds them to 32% from the field is the stat of the game. That is getting shots contested and making it hard for them to get good looks."
The Catamounts scored first and had a 4-0 lead before shots by Spencer Collins and Karl Cochran tied the game at four with 16:31 on the clock. Western Carolina had an 8-4 advantage after five minutes of play. The Terriers added a bucket by C.J. Neumann, but the Catamounts scored the next six to push the lead to 14-6 at the 11:57 mark. A pair of free throw by Karl Cochran ended the short run and a lay-up by Lee Skinner made is a 16-10 score after ten minutes. A bucket by Spencer Collins and a lay-up and free throw by John Swinton cut the lead to 16-15 at the 8:56 mark.
Western Carolina made it a 21-17 advantage after a three pointer. Jaylen Allen had a steal and score to make it a one-point game, then a bucket off a steal by Karl Cochran gave the Terriers a 22-21 lead with 4:57 left in the first half. The Catamounts regained the advantage with a three pointer. Eric Garcia hit a pair of free throws at 3:32 to tie the game at 24. After Western Carolina took a two-point lead, Eric Garcia drained a three and Spencer Collins had a pair of free throws for a 29-26 lead at the 1:40 mark. A three by John Swinton with 50 seconds on the clock and a free throw by John Swinton at the 0.7 mark gave the Terriers a 33-26 lead at the break.
Wofford opened the second half with a bucket by Karl Cochran for a 35-26 lead. A three by the Catamounts was countered by a bucket and free throw by Lee Skinner. A three by Karl Cochran at 17:39 gave Wofford a 41-29 lead. Spencer Collins and Karl Cochran added buckets as part of a 10-0 run to push the score to 45-29 at the 16:16 mark. The Catamounts ended the run with a three pointer, but two free throws by C.J. Neumann and a jumper by Spencer Collins made it a 49-32 score with 14:36 remaining.
A pair of free throws by Jaylen Allen at 13:17 in the second half pushed the Wofford lead to 52-34. Justin Gordon had a lay-up to maintain the advantage at 54-36 after eight minutes of play. The Catamounts scored the next five points to cut the score to 54-41, but Karl Cochran answered with a three pointer. A three by Western Carolina with 9:18 on the clock cut the margin to 57-46. Another three by the Catamounts made it a 57-51 lead at the seven minute mark.
The Western Carolina run went to 14-0 with a 57-55 score with 5:32 remaining. Karl Cochran ended the run with a deep three pointer for a 60-55 lead at the 4:28 mark. A lay-up by Lee Skinner gave Wofford a 63-56 advantage with 2:17 left in the second half. Two free throws by Spencer Collins and one by Lee Skinner with 53 seconds on the clock made it a 67-58 game. Wofford added a bucket by Karl Cochran and a pair of free throws by Spencer Collins in the final 40 seconds to take the 71-60 victory.
Wofford shot 44.9% from the floor. Western Carolina was held to 31.7% overall. The Terriers were 5-of-10 from with three, while the Catamounts were 7-of-22 from behind the arc. Western Carolina was 13-of-16 from the line while Wofford was 22-of-30 on free throws. The Catamounts had a 41 to 34 advantage on the glass, but turned the ball over 14 times.
The Terriers will not have much rest before they travel to Georgia Southern for the final time on Thursday night for a 7:00 p.m. contest. A game at Furman on Saturday afternoon will complete Wofford's stretch of four games in eight days.
