CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina turned the three-point line into a layup line Wednesday night. The Catamounts knocked down 29 three-pointers, shot 52 percent from beyond the arc and rolled past Virginia Lynchburg, 136-68, in front of 1,611 fans at the Ramsey Center.
Western Carolina (2-1) went 29-of-56 from the three-point range, and those shots accounted for 87 of the team’s 136 points. The Dragons, by comparison, made eight of 28 attempts from deep. Overall, WCU shot 58 percent from the field (50-of-86) and led by as many as 72 points.
The 29 three-pointers set a new NCAA Division I single-game record, and the Catamounts also matched the NCAA single-game benchmark with nine different players making a three. It was a total team effort from deep, with Roberts, Bryson, Brown, Martins, Zhu, Sodipo, Prunty, Manning and Hollifield all hitting from beyond the arc.
Virginia Lynchburg did get the first punch. The Dragons won the opening tip, and Raheem Bradley buried a three off a Donovan Peterson assist to make it 3-0 less than a minute in. Jaxon Prunty answered with a three of his own, and VUL still led 10-8 after a Mohamed Diaby layup at the 17:07 mark.
That was the last time the Dragons would feel good about the scoreboard. After Samuel Dada tied it at 10 with a layup, Jaeden Roberts, Travelle Bryson and Fola Sodipo hit three straight threes in under a minute to ignite a 9-0 run. Western Carolina led by double digits for the rest of the night.
By halftime, the Catamounts had 75 points on the board, a 48-point cushion over a Dragons team that had 27. Nineteen of WCU’s 29 threes came in the opening 20 minutes, producing 57 of the 75 first-half points. Roberts made five threes before the break, including three in a span of 69 seconds late in the half. Malachi Brown added four first-half threes of his own, and the Catamounts closed the half by hitting five threes in a 1:50 stretch, with Jacob Zhu, Isaiah Manning (twice) and Prunty (twice) trading off before Zhu capped the half with a dunk on a Bryson assist.
The shooting never cooled. In the second half, Jose Martins took over from deep, connecting on three triples in just under two minutes, then added a fourth later in the half. He finished 4-of-5 from three-point range for 12 points. Zhu and Sodipo each added a pair of second-half threes, and Drew Hollifield capped the barrage with a 26-footer with 3:09 to play that pushed the lead to its largest of the night at 128-56.
Fourteen Catamounts scored in all.
Bryson paced the offense with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including four three-pointers, to go with seven rebounds and six assists in 18 minutes. Roberts finished with 17 points, and Sodipo added 16 points, a game-high 11 rebounds, and five assists while making three of four three-point attempts. Zhu (13), Brown (12), Manning (12), Martins (12) and Prunty (10) also reached double figures, giving WCU eight players in double digits.
The three-point show was powered by ball movement. Western Carolina assisted on 33 of its 50 made field goals, led by Bryson and Zhu with six apiece, and Sodipo with five. Beyond the arc, the Catamounts controlled the game in every phase. They won the rebounding battle 62-22, including 20 offensive boards, and outscored the Dragons 31-19 on the fast break and 42-28 in the paint. Forcing 11 turnovers, WCU turned them into 20 points while committing just nine of its own. The Catamounts also held Virginia Lynchburg to 36 percent shooting (24-of-66) and blocked three shots, including two by Dada.
Peterson led the Dragons with 27 points, going 8-of-16 from the field and 7-of-12 at the free-throw line. Diaby added 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds, and Bradley also scored 14.
Western Carolina (21) stays home Saturday, Nov. 14, when they host Lipscomb at 7 p.m. at the Ramsey Center, before hitting the road for games at Butler on Nov. 17 and Wake Forest on Nov. 21.
