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WCU women top Furman while men lose to Paladins
Western Carolina’s women were winners, but the men came up short in a Southern Conference basketball doubleheader Saturday at Furman.
Women
Lauren Powell scored 21 points leading the Lady Cats (12-7, 6-2) to a 58-47 victory at Timmons Arena. Brooke Johnson added 10.
Furman was paced by Chrissy Phelps with 13 points.
Five points from Powell gave WCU the lead for good, 25-20, with less than five minutes to play in the first half. The margin was 30-25 at intermission.
Western led 42-31 with 11 minutes to play, but the Lady Paladins narrowed the deficit to 42-37 a couple of minutes later.
Seven straight points gave WCU its largest lead, 51-39, after Ashley Pellom’s steal and layup with six minutes to go.
Both teams shot 33.3 percent from the floor, and the Lady Cats were a paltry one of 13 from three-point range. However, they made 17 of 19 foul shots while Furman hit nine of 12.
Led by Chevon Keith’s nine rebounds, WCU controlled the boards 43-35. Maggie Mc-Kemie and Sarah Baker both had six boards for the Lady Paladins.
Furman committed 23 turnovers, and Western had 21.
Completing the WCU scoring were Jessika Johnson with eight, Pellom and Chevon Keith with six apiece, Heather Swayne with four, Kendra Eaton with two and Kristen Feemster with one.
Men
Robby Bostain scored 23 points, including 13 of 14 free throws, leading the Furman men to a 79-67 win in front of 3,112 fans. Jadee Jones added 15 points for the Paladins.
Nick Aldridge led Western (7-11, 4-3) with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures were Jake Robinson with 14 and Arnold Gore, Antonio Russell and Brandon Giles with 10 apiece.
The Cats jumped in front 5-0 after Gore’s layup two minutes into the game, but they went nearly 11 minutes without another field goal.
Meanwhile, the Paladins went on a 20-1 run, including seven by Jones, for a 20-6 advantage with 9:40 on the clock. They led 35-17 after Tony Anderson’s three-pointer at the 2:56 mark before WCU closed within 41-29 at intermission.
Robinson nailed a pair of three-pointers to spark a 12-2 spurt cutting the gap to 54-49 at the 11:02 mark. Gore made one of two free throws bringing his team within 61-57 with 6:12 on the clock.
Furman regained control with a 9-2 spurt, capped by Eric Webb’s two foul shots, for a 70-59 lead with 3:07 remaining.
The Paladins made 35 of 38 free throws while WCU was 24 of 37 from the line.
Both teams struggled from the field with Furman shooting 38.5 percent compared to 34 percent by the Cats.
Western had a 39-35 rebounding edge. Gerad Punch led the Paladins with seven boards.
The Cats were hurt by 18 turnovers while Furman had 11.
Rounding out the WCU scoring were Kyle Greathouse with three and Eric Wilson with two.
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