CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Brigham Waginger scored all 12 of his points from beyond the 3-point arc, including a crucial trey with two and a half minutes to play to halt a Campbell scoring run as Western Carolina outlasted the Camels, 66-59, Thursday night in front of a season-high 2,794 fans at the Ramsey Center.
Blake Gallagher connected on a free throw to complete an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Catamounts (9-1) a game-high 17 point, 51-34, lead with 12:38 remaining in the contest. However, the Camels scored 10 unanswered points as a part of a 22-to-8 run to trim the margin to just three, 59-56, with 2:25 to play.
On the ensuing possession, Waginger took a feed from backcourt-mate, junior Mike Williams, and drained his fourth triple of the night to extend the WCU lead back to six, 64-56. Williams followed it up with a lay-up with 90 seconds to play and Jake Robinson hit a pair of free throws inside the final 20 seconds to seal the victory.
Williams scored a team-high 16 points that included several circus shots in the paint as the Catamounts claimed their eighth-straight victory on the season and remained perfect at home (6-0). Waginger just missed his first career double-double, finishing with nine rebounds and four assists to accompany his 12 points. The South Webster, Ohio native was held off the stat sheet in the steal column, snapping a string of at least one steal in his last 12 games.
Brandon Giles chipped in nine points and Robinson finished with eight to surpass the 1,000 career point plateau. Harouna Mutombo scored seven and dished out five assists, while Richie Gordon blocked a career-high five shots.
Campbell (5-2) put two players in double figures as leading scorer Jonathan Rodriguez posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, scoring 10 of his points on 10-of-11 shooting from the free throw line. Amir Celestin, who scored eight during the Camels' second half run, finished with 12 points.
Western Carolina took control of the early see-saw affair with nine unanswered points in the first half, breaking the game's only tie at 11 to pull ahead, 20-11, inside of eight minutes remaining in the opening stanza. Williams buried a 3-pointer with 1:13 before the break to give the Catamounts an eight-point, 32-24, lead at halftime.
The Catamounts next travel to Louisville for a Saturday afternoon date with the Cardinals, who dropped out of the national top 25 after falling to Charlotte, 87-65, last Saturday.