BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- Western Carolina withstood a furious Campbell
second-half rally and defeated the Camels 66-59 Thursday night at
the Ramsey Center.
The Catamounts (9-1) extended their win streak to eight games
despite seeing a 17-point second-half lead wither to just three
with 2:57 to play.
Mike Williams came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points,
while adding four assists. Brigham Waginger added 12 on 4-of-7
treys, plus a team-leading nine rebounds from his guard
position.
Jonathan Rodriguez led Campbell (5-2) with 18 points, including
10-of-11 from the line, and 10 rebounds for his 44th career
double-double and fifth of the season. Amir Celestin scored 12 in
his first start of the year.
Western went in front 51-34 on Gallagher's foul shots with 12:38 to
play, but was scoreless for the next 6:37 as the Camels reeled off
10 unanswered points. CU trailed 51-44 and had five possessions to
draw closer but went 0-for-2 with 3 turnovers during the
stretch.
Two foul shots by Celestin cut the gap to 56-50 with 4:03
remaining. Jake Robinson then hit a long 3-pointer from the top of
the key (to bring his career scoring tally to 1,000 points), but
Kyle Vejraska's lay-in and Miles Taylor's steal and transition
bucket brought CU within 59-54 with 2:57 to go.
Celestin jumped into the passing lane, then scored on the break to
bring CU within 59-56, but Waginger hit a trey from the right
wing. After a Camel turnover, Williams scored on a drive in
traffic to push the advantage back to eight (64-56) with 1:26
remaining.
The Camels shot just 34 percent from the floor and made only
1-of-10 from 3-point range. The Camels had 14 steals and forced 16
WCU turnovers, but converted those miscues into only 10 points.
Western Carolina shot 42 percent from the field, but made 10-of-22
threes and 12-of-15 from the stripe. Campbell finished with a
39-36 edge on the boards.
Campbell made just 8-of-31 shots in the opening period and trailed
32-24 at the break. The Camels went 8:30 without a field goal
midway through the stanza. Rodriguez led the Camels with eight
first-half points, including 6-of-6 from the line, plus five
rebounds.
Western Carolina hit 5-of-14 threes, but shot just 37 percent, in
the opening period. Williams (eight first-half points) and
Waginger each canned a pair of triples before half-time.
The Camels led 11-9 on Lorne Merthie's 3-point play with 13:10
remaining in the opening half, but Western scored 11 unanswered
points during a 5:15 span to go in front 20-11 on Giles' free
throws.
Campbell has never won at Cullowhee (0-16), including four losses
at the Ramsey Center. Thursday's contest marked the 24th between
the schools in men's basketball. However, the teams had not met
since CU defeated the Catamounts 85-73 on Jan. 7, 1991 in
Fayetteville's Cumberland County Civic Center.
Western Carolina was picked to win the Southern Conference North
Division title after finishing as co-champion in '08-09 with an
11-9 league mark and 16-15 overall record.
The Camels return to action Monday in a 7:00 p.m. start at UNC
Wilmington. Western Carolina heads to Louisville on Saturday for a
4:00 p.m. start.
