Tawaski King blocks shot: Photo by Meredith Oakley
Western Carolina’s NCAA tournament chances came to an end on Monday night as their SoCon tournament run came up short in a double-overtime loss to Davidson, 93-91.
Four wins in four days proved to be too much as the top seed in the south was eventually too much to handle for the Catamounts.
WCU overcame a 13-point deficit with 2:47 to go to force overtime but, senior guard, Keaton Cole’s long, three-pointer at the buzzer in double-overtime was too hard and the rally was not meant to be.
Cole lead the Catamounts with 21 points followed by sophomore center, Tawaski King with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Senior forward, Harouna Mutombo, who started the game on fire, finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The story of the game however, was the Catamounts inability to stop the Wildcats interior game. Time-after-time, Davidson was able to find easy points in the paint. Backdoor layups, dribble drives amongst other things eventually doomed WCU.
The Wildcats were led by the SoCon tournament’s most outstanding player, sophomore forward De’Mon Brooks with 19 points and eight rebounds. Davidson will receive an automatic birth into the NCAA tournament which will start next Tuesday.
