Brandon Boggs. Photo: Doug Powell
Harouna Mutombo scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Western Carolina defeated the Citadel Bulldogs, 70-53 and notched their fifth conference win of the season on Thursday night.
Keaton Cole delivered 15 points (5-of-13 from three) and Tawaski King nearly missed out on a double-double with eight points and 15 rebounds.
King helped the Catamounts dominate the boards as Western Carolina out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 55-27 on the night. The rebounds also helped Western score 22 second-chance points.
“It was a total team effort, guys really bought into what we were trying to do this week,” assistant coach Eric Wilson said. “Harouna had a terrific game for us with his shot selection, defense and his effort on the boards.”
Mutombo had a career-high six offensive rebounds and has led the team in scoring in 12 out of 28 games this season.
Mike Groselle paced the Bulldogs with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six steals. Lawrence Miller added 14 points for Citadel who lost their 14th game in conference play.
Western Carolina improved its home record to 7-4 on the season while the Citadel fell to 1-13 on the road. The Catamounts are now 11-17 and have moved up to fifth place in the SoCon with a conference record of 5-10.
Western Carolina heads to Elon this Saturday to take on the Phoenix. Tip-off is at 3 p.m.
