CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina opened with a 22-2 run which included 19-straight points and matched both a school and facility record with 17 made 3-pointers Tuesday night as it cruised past Berea (Ky.) College, 124-53, in non-conference action in the Ramsey Center.
The Catamounts needed just over five minutes to build the 20-point lead in disposing of the NAIA-member Mountaineers for the 11th-straight home victory, remaining perfect in the Ramsey Center this season at 8-0. Senior Brandon Giles made a jumper at the 8:59 mark of the first half to push the game above the 20-cushion which the Mountaineers were never able to breach.
All 13 Catamount players that saw action scored in the rout, with five securing double figures led by a WCU career-high 19 points by junior transfer Anthony Phillip. The Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., native also paced the squad with a career-best eight rebounds while dishing out another benchmark with six assists. He was joined in double figures by senior Jake Robinson who drained five of WCU's 17 3-pointers for 15 points, with red-shirt sophomore Harouna Mutombo also scoring 15.
Robinson now stands just 12 made 3-pointers shy of tying WCU's career school-record.
Sophomore Antoine Childs scored a career-best 14 points, hitting on 4-of-5 from the floor, while junior Mike Williams - making his first appearance after missing the past two games with a left ankle injury - scored 10 with three rebounds and three assists.
Other scoring highlights for the Catamounts included senior Brigham Waginger with nine points and six assists without a turnover, with junior Richie Gordon and senior Kendall Russell also scoring eight apiece and both accounting for a pair of steals. Russell boarded six misses including four on the offensive glass. Sophomore Blake Gallagher was perfect from the floor (1-for-1) and the free throw line (5-for-5) for seven points, matching senior teammate Adrian Gailliard.
All told, WCU's bench accounted for 80 of the 124 points, the most for a Catamount squad since tallying 120 against Toccoa Falls a season ago a school-record 133 against the same foe in 2001.
Western Carolina's decisive first half run featured five made 3-pointers on 5-of-6 shooting, and two highlight reel dunks by Gordon on alley oop passes from Waginger and Williams. Phillip made a steal and fast break lay-up to give the Catamounts a first half high, 31-point lead at the 1:19 mark before taking a 28-point, 57-29, edge into intermission.
Out of the halftime locker room, WCU (12-2) methodically pulled ahead by 40 points five minutes into the frame before ballooning the margin to 66 on 18-straight unanswered points over a four-minute stretch.
Western Carolina returns to Southern Conference play this Saturday, Jan. 9 as it visits Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. Tip-off from the Hanner Fieldhouse is set for 3:30 pm. The game will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with a 3:30 pm air time.