Go to the homepage for the Sylva Herald and Ruralite

UNC-Asheville edges WCU with late free throws, steal
Martin Kevin Martin scored 14 points for Western Carolina in Saturday's 72-66 loss to UNC-Asheville. - WCU photo by Mark Haskett After a nip-and-tuck battle all the way, UNC-Asheville emerged with a 72-66 victory over Western Carolina in front of 1,635 fans Saturday at the Ramsey Center.

Ben McGonagil scored 17 points helping the Bulldogs to their first win after five losses. He was joined in double figures by Andre Smith with 13, Bryan McCullough with 12 and Colin Shaw with 11.

Kevin Martin and Kelvin Wylie had 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Catamounts (3-2).

The game produced 17 lead changes and 13 ties with neither team ahead by more than six.

WCU's Cory Largent made one of two free throws for a 64-64 tie with 1:08 on the clock.

The Bulldogs took the lead for good with 48 seconds left when two McCullough free throws made it 66-64. Smith followed with a steal and layup for a 68-64 advantage with 36 seconds to go. Smith added three foul shots down the stretch to seal the win.

Western scored the first six points of the game, included a pair of baskets by Martin, but that would be the biggest lead.

The Bulldogs ran off the next seven points for a 7-6 edge on Shaw's jumper at the 14:30 mark, and the seesaw battle was on.

WCU held a 31-30 edge at intermission.

UNC-A controlled the boards 37-29. Shaw, McGonagil and Alex Krager all had six rebounds for the Bulldogs. WCU was led by Wylie with six.

Asheville shot 50 percent from the floor while holding the Cats to 38.6 percent shooting.

UNC-A committed 23 turnovers, and WCU had 18.

Western's Casey Rogers handed out six assists.

Completing the WCU scoring were Largent, Rogers and Willie Freeman all with seven, Terrence Woodyard with six, Rans Brempong with five, Alex Osipovitch with four and Emre Atsur with three.

The Cats will hit the road to face Stetson at 7:10 p.m. tonight (Thursday) and Florida State at 2 p.m. Saturday before returning home to meet Guilford at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Back to Sports: 12/06/01.