Coming into the game against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers, the Catamounts men’s basketball team had dropped three straight following coach Hunter’s 700th win on Feb. 3.
The last time the Cats pulled off the win against the Bucs in Cullowhee was on Jan. 26, 1998. The Cats came in hoping today would be their day, but in spite of a a comeback attempt by WCU late in the game, they were defeated by ETSU 72-61 on Feb. 17.
Cats guard Deriece Parks attempts to pass the ball to forward Mike Amius in the traffic of ETSU defenders: (left) Peter Jurkin and Devontavius Payne (right). Photo by Marcus Smith. Feb. 17, 2018
The Cats just couldn’t seem to get it together offensively being held by the Bucs to only 39 percent from the field and 30 percent from beyond the arc. Poor shot selection from behind the three-point line, as well as being loose with the ball giving up 15 turnovers, was the Catamounts Achilles heel.
Cats forward Mike Amius did well offensively racking up 8 points, but he was one of the main reasons for the team’s struggles to hold onto the ball as he picked up 8 turnovers by himself.
The biggest contributors on the day for the Cats were guards Deriece Parks and Marcus Thomas who had 17 points and 12 points, respectively.
Parks was injured during the later stages of the game landing on his ankle awkwardly at around the 3:30 mark of the second half. He had to be helped off of the court by the trainers and would not return.
Coach Larry Hunter said they were taking him to be evaluated in the training room, but did not know if it was a sprain or something worse. Hunter said Parks has had a great season and would hate to lose him.
Down by as many as 23 in the second half losing 51-28 at the 16:32 mark, Thomas and Matt Halvorsen, who finished with 10 points, pushed the pace and executed from the field lessening the deficit, especially after the injury to Parks. In the end, it was a game of catch up for the Cats and although they cut the lead down to 11, the Bucs prevailed.
Video below is a small sample of what Freshman Marcus Thomas did for the Cats. Courtesy of Catamount Athletics Twitter page:
The Cats were no match for the firepower of Bucs guards Devontavius Payne and Bo Hodges. Hodges came off of the bench and shot the ball with efficiency as he obtained 17 points in only 17 minutes of action going 86 percent from the field. Payne showed the Ramsey Center what he could do by scorching the Cats from downtown connecting on 6 three-pointers and finishing with 22 points and 7 rebounds.
Next up on the docket for the Catamounts (12-16) is the Mercer Bears (15-13) on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Cats last road game of the regular season.
