Western puts up fight before losing to Eagles

Odartey Blankson netted 12 points, and Scott Merritt had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.

Cory Largent led the Catamounts (2-9) with 21 points and eight boards. Also scoring in double figures Casey Rogers with 16, Rans Brempong with 13 and Willie Freeman with 12.

Henry scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half helping the Eagles extend a 35-28 halftime lead to double figures.

After Western Carolina closed the gap to 69-62 with 3:13 left, Brian Barone sank a three-pointer to put Marquette back up by 10.

The Eagles jumped off to a 9-0 lead and were ahead 18-8 at the 11-minute mark of the first half. The Cats closed to 25-21 on consecutive three-pointers by Rogers.

Merritt helped Marquette to a 41-26 advantge on the boards.

The Eagles shot 47.5 percent from the floor while WCU made 45.5 percent of its field goal tries. Hatcher handed out six assists for the Cats, and Wardle had five for Marquette.

Todd Seibert completed the Western scoring with four points.

WCU will travel to Iowa State for an 8 p.m. game Saturday before opening Southern Conference action at 7 p.m. Wednesday at home against Davidson.

Back to Sports: 12/28/00.