Western Carolina routs Southeastern

After missing the first two games of the season due to an injury, Rans Brempong registered a double-double in his first action of the year Saturday to lead Western Carolina to a 94-55 rout of Southeastern before only 423 fans at the Ramsey Center.

Brempong, who broke a bone in his left hand on Nov. 5, scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to go with three steals.

Also scoring in double figures were Kevin Martin with 14, Alex Osipovitch with 13 and Jared Outing with 12.

Jeremy Holcombe scored eight points for the Crusaders, who play in Division II of the National Christian College Athletic Association.

The Cats started slowly and trailed 11-9 on a Sherman Merricks layup with 16:05 left in the first half.

Western scored 11 unanswered points, including five each by Martin and Outing, for a 21-11 lead at the 13:11 mark.

Southeastern stayed within striking distance until the final seven minutes of the half when the Cats began to pull away. Brempong scored three straight baskets to spark a 10-0 run extending the margin to 41-25 on a three-point play by Osipovitch with 3:23 on the clock.

The lead reached 50-29 when Terrence Woodyard drained a three-pointer at the 1:12 mark and was 52-34 at intermission.

Kori Hatcher's layup capped a 14-2 run, including six by Corey Muirhead, for a 74-42 lead with 10:48 remaining. The Cats closed the game with a 10-2 spurt, including five by James Johnson.

Western dominated the Crusaders on the boards 55-25 and allowed just two offensive rebounds.

The Cats shot 44.4 percent from the field compared to Southeastern's 40.7 percent.

Turnovers hurt both teams as Western committed 20 and the Crusaders had 29.

Completing the WCU scoring were Woodyard and Muirhead with nine apiece, Johnson with eight, Hatcher with seven and David Berghoefer with six.

Back to Sports: 12/06/02.