Men's Basketball Southern Conference

Catamounts Defeat Montreal All-Star Team, 110-84

Montreal, Quebec - Kevin Martin, David Berghoefer and Rans Brempong keyed an offensive explosion as the Western Carolina men's basketball team posted a 110-84 win over an All-Star team from Montreal Thursday night. The Catamounts, now 4-0 on their Canadian tour, will wrap up competition Saturday, Aug. 16, versus the Canadian National Team.

Martin, a 6-7 junior guard, scored 26 points with seven assists and five rebounds. He was 8-of-16 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, while making all six of his free throws. Berghoefer, a 6-10 sophomore center, had 21 points, making 9-of-17 shots, with six rebounds. Brempong, a Canadian native and senior on the WCU basketball team, registered a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. He was 6-of-8 from the field and made all four free throws he attempted, while adding five blocked shots and three steals.

Overall, the Catamounts handed out 31 assists on 42 field goals made in shooting 53 percent from the field. As they have been doing throughout the tour, they dominated the boards, holding a 56-34 rebound advantage. While Western allowed the Montreal All-Stars to shoot 43 percent, the Cats forced 24 turnovers, thanks to 21 steals.

"We were spectacular on offense in the first half, shooting 59 percent and taking a 62-48 lead at the break," said WCU head coach Steve Shurina. "We pushed the ball up the floor, many times without the ball even touching the floor, to score uncontested lay-ups. We were disappointed that we did not guard as well as we could have. I was extremely pleased with our offense and hopefully we can correct some of our mistakes by Saturday.

"This was probably the most talented team we have faced so far, having several major college players and others who will play at mid-to-lower level programs.

"Kevin Martin continued his stellar play. David Berghoefer and Rans Brempong were outstanding as well. James Johnson continues to play very well at the point and Emre Atsur was solid tonight."

Atsur contributed 12 points with five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Jared Outing also had five boards and scored 10 points. Corey Muirhead, a native of York, Ontario, contributed eight points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Johnson only scored three points, but dished out 12 assists with five rebounds and three steals. Alex Osipovitch added eight points with four steals, Terrence Woodyard had four points and five rebounds and redshirt freshman Taylor Yanchar rounded out the scoring with two points.

Western will travel to Kitchener, Ontario, to face Canadian National Team on Saturday at the University of Guelph. The Canadian National Team, featuring NBA All-Star Steve Nash, will use the game as a final tune-up for their Olympic qualifying tournament later this month.

"We did some things tonight to start preparing for Steve Nash," Shurina said. "This will be great for our guys to play the best players in Canada. Steve Nash is considered one of the top three or four point guards in the world. We will definitely have our hands full."

After playing the Canadian National Team, the Catamounts will stop in New York City, where they are schedule to tour the city, be in the audience for a taping of "The Late Show with David Letterman" and go on a Ride-Along with the New York City Police.