Cullowhee, N.C. ? Led by junior Jake Robinson’s 19 points, seven Catamounts scored in double figures Monday night as Western Carolina cruised past Tennessee Wesleyan, 110-67, in non-conference action in the Ramsey Center.
With an overall record of 5-2 through its first seven games, Western Carolina is off to its best start since the 1999-2000 season when the Catamounts started 6-2 under former head coach Phil Hopkins. It was the second-time this season that the Catamounts had eclipsed the century mark, scoring 120 earlier this season against Toccoa Falls in the home opener.
Robinson, who just missed a double-double with eight rebounds, drained five of his seven 3-point attempts as WCU connected on 11 triples in the winning effort. Freshman Greg Avery scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting off the bench, while classmates Kendall Russell and Keaton Cole added career-highs of 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Second-year, walk-on senior Domnique Quarles recorded his first career points, finishing with a career-high 11 points and a pair of steals in a career-best 11 minutes of playing time. Rounding out WCU’s double-digit scorers were juniors Brandon Giles and Adrian Gailliard, each with 10 points.
Freshman Antoine Childs just missed double-figures with eight points as the WCU bench outscored Tennessee Wesleyan, 69-to-21. Sophomore forward Blake Gallagher posted a game and season-high 11 rebounds for the Catamounts, who commanded the glass with a 55-to-31 edge in rebounding. The Monroe, N.C., native also swiped a career-high four steals.
Tennessee Wesleyan (5-6) was led by Reggie Jackson with a game-high 29 points, including 20 in the first half and a perfect 7-for-7 showing from beyond the 3-point arc. Willie Maclin added 10 points for the Bulldogs, who committed a WCU opponent seasonal-high tying 26 turnovers.
Western Carolina watched an early seven-point lead evaporate as Jackson scored nine of the 13 Bulldog points in a 13-to-5 spurt that gave Tennessee Wesleyan its lone lead of the contest, 15-14, seven minutes into the contest. The Catamounts rallied, though, with 14 unanswered points including treys from Cole, Giles and Robinson to pull out to a 13-point edge, 28-15, less than three minutes later.
The Bulldogs would not go away, though, clawing back to within five, 31-26, with an 11-3 run with just over eight minutes showing on the Ramsey Center clock.
However, Western Carolina closed the half with a 25-to-6 run, including 18-straight unanswered points ? six by Russell and Avery, four from Gailliard and two free throws by junior Brigham Waginger ? to lead at the break, 56-32.
Out of the halftime locker room, Tennessee Wesleyan trimmed the deficit to 22 points with a lay-up 20 seconds into the second stanza. But it was as close as the NAIA Bulldogs would get as WCU pushed the lead to 31 on a Cole trifecta at the 16:17 mark and would lead by as many as 43 at the conclusion on a Quarles’ steal and lay-up.
Western Carolina concludes its brief two-game home stand by hosting Gardner-Webb (2-7) out of the Big South Conference on Wednesday (Dec. 17) night in the Ramsey Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm.