Chattanooga, Wofford defeat Catamounts in league games

Cory Largent scored a career-high 30 points Monday, but Western Carolina still dropped a 90-76 decision to Wofford. - Photo by Mark Haskett

Idris Harper drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:10 left to break a tie and spur Chattanooga to a 76-71 victory Saturday in the Ramsey Center.

After Harper's jumper, making the score 72-69, Western was able to cut the gap to 72-71 on a Ricky Gandy layup with 20 seconds remaining. However, Tim Parker and Bryan Richardson each made a pair of free throws over the final 10 seconds to preserve the win.

The Moccasins were led by Toot Young with 18 points, Dusty Pullian followed with 15 while Richardson scored 13 and Morton Oliver had 11.

WCU was not able to capitalize on having four players reach double figures. Cory Largent, led the way with 18 and tied a career-high with five three-pointers to go with nine rebounds. Willie Freeman also had 18 points and nine boards. Gandy finished with 15 points, and Casey Rogers had 11 points and eight assists.

The Cats jumped to a 26-10 lead at the 12:52 mark in the first half and led 31-21 with 6:56 to go. The Mocs went on a 13-1 run over a three-minute span to go up 33-32 and held a 40-39 edge at intermission.

After trading baskets, Western took a 60-58 lead with 8:02 left on a Rogers free throw and held the advantage for nearly six minutes although the game was tied three times during the span.

The teams battled to a 36-36 standoff on the boards. Oliver, Harper, Richardson and Pullian all had six for the Mocs.

WCU made 45.8 percent of its field goals tries while holding Chattanooga to 41.3 percent shooting.

The Cats turned the ball over 18 times to 12 by the Mocs.

Completing the WCU scoring were Rans Brempong with seven and Kori Hatcher with two.

Largent scored a career-high 30 points on 11 of 16 shooting Monday, but it wasn't enough as Wofford outscored the Cats 49-30 in the second half for a 90-76 victory.

The Terriers countered with a trio of players scoring in the 20s. Mike Lenzly led the way with 28 followed by Lee Nixon with 22 and Ian Chadwick with 21.

Kori Hatcher was WCU's only other double figure scorer with 13.

The game was a tale to two halves. Largent pumped in 17 first-half points to lead the Cats to a 46-41 advantage while Chadwick, the conference leading scorer, was held to two. Chadwick, who entered the game with a 19.8 scoring average, netted 19 in the second half to spark the rally.

Despite shooting 60 percent from the field in the first half, Western never led by more than six points as Lenzly matched Largent's first-half effort with 17.

The Cats came out with a 9-4 flurry over the first five minutes of the second half to take a 55-45. WCU was up 57-47 at the 13:49 mark.

Wofford went on a 29-9 run over the next eight minutes, which included a four-minute dry spell for Western to take a 10-point lead of its own. During the span, Lenzly scored nine points and Chadwick had eight. Chadwick made a three-pointer and all six of his free throw attempts inside the final five minutes to preserve the win.

Western made 50 percent of its field goal tries while holding Wofford to 47.9 percent.

The Terries attempted 13 more shots thanks to a 39-32 rebounding advantage and committing only six turnovers while the Cats had 13.

Freeman posted a game-high 12 rebounds while Wofford was led by Lenzly with eight.

Rounding out the WCU scoring were Brempong and Gandy with nine each, Rogers with eight and Freeman with seven.

Western will conclude the regular season Saturday with a 7 p.m. home game against UNC-Greensboro.

Back to Sports: 02/22/01.