Western Carolina University’s men’s basketball team couldn’t get it together offensively losing to the Furman Paladins by 23, 78-55, on Feb. 23 in a pumped up Ramsey Center.
The Cats hoisted up brick after brick early in the first half going 1-6 at the 15:37 mark, and the Paladins were able to put up some points in no time leading the cats 10-2. As the game progressed, it seemed as though the Paladins could not be stopped as they went up 31-16 at the 7:13 mark.
Cats forward Marc Gosselin posts up Andrew Brown looking to find an open man. Photo by Marcus Smith. Feb. 23, 2018.
Nevertheless, the Catamounts went on a defensive tear picking up a succession of steals to scratch and claw their way back into the game to only trail Furman 33-22 with 3:41 left in the first.
Deciding that it was no time for a Catamount comeback, the Paladins went on a run of their own late in the first half thanks in large part to guard Andrew Brown, who could not be contained, finishing the half with 16 points while connecting on 4 three-pointers in just 14 minutes of action.
At the half, the Paladins led the Cats 44-26 while shooting 53 percent from the field and holding WCU to just 36 percent.
In the second, Brown picked up where he left off from beyond the arc as he knocked down two more three-pointers in the opening minutes.
There was no real response from the Catamounts except for the push by forwards Mike Amius and Marc Gosselin to try and salvage the suffering team by picking up 13 points and 11 points, respectively. In the end, these two could only do so much so the Cats faced opposition who crushed them.
There was also a hiccup in the second half as senior guard Devin Peterson got shaken up and had to be helped off of the court. It looked like a serious situation with his knee.
“He said he’s okay. He said he just knocked knees with someone,” said coach Larry Hunter on the injury to Peterson.
Video below courtesy of Catamount Athletics Twitter page:
Next on tap for the Catamounts (12-18) is a home contest against The Citadel Bulldogs (10-19) in their final game of the regular season on Sunday, Feb. 25. It will also be Senior Day where six seniors will be honored before the game.
