Western Carolina continued their winning streak in the team’s first Southern Conference tournament match-up on March 7.
The 5th-seeded Catamounts faced the 4th-seeded Mercer Bears and ultimately came out on top after a thrilling game that ended in a 77-73 victory.
The Cats came out of the gate cold with Mercer dominating the first 7 minutes with a 28-11 lead.
The team didn’t let the pressure get to them and stepped up. The Cats started hitting their shots and were led by Tahlan Pettway, who had 15 points in the first half. They erased the 17-point deficit and entered the second half with a 36-35 lead. Mercer reestablished the lead in the second half, 58-49.
The game continued with the Catamount defense heavily contesting Mercer’s shots and the offense hitting the open looks. As the game was coming to a close, the Cats had a 3-point lead.
Mercer guard Zaire Williams hit a tough three-point shot to tie the game with a minute to go. He then got fouled and gave Mercer a one-point lead. Western forward Marcus Kell, who had just taken a tough fall, returned to the court and delivered two clutch free throws to give WCU the lead back.
Baraka Okojie missed Mercer’s next attempt, giving the ball back to Western, who clung to a 2-point lead with 15 seconds to go. Zaire Williams was fouled in and had the chance to tie the game up, but he missed one of his free throws, leaving WCU with a 1-point lead. Cord Stansberry iced the game with three made free throws, giving Western the win.
The keys to this game were rebounding and free throws. Western out-rebounded the Bears 53-29, showcasing Western’s transfer students’ abilities. They have transformed this team with the added dimension of being able to get boards.
The Catamounts also went 15 of 20 on free throws, while the Bears went 11 of 19. Four WCU players scored in the double digits. Tidjiane Dioumassi led them in with 21 points. Cord Stansberry had 13, Tahlan Pettway had 18, and Marcus Kell scored 15. The Cats continued their tournament run against the 1st-seeded East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 8th.
Western swept ETSU in the regular season and extended its winning streak to eight games in a row.
