Herald Photo by Mark Haskett
Western Carolina freshman Jarvis Hayes scored 20 points in Monday's 78-74 upset of defending Southern Conference champion College of Charleston. |
Western Carolina upset defending Southern Conference champion College of Charleston 78-74 Monday before 2,631 fans at the Ramsey Center.
Jarvis Hayes scored 20 points while Dondrell Whitmore had 19 points and 10 rebounds in his final home game. Cory Largent added 11 points, and Casey Rogers had 10 as the Catamounts improved to 14-12 overall and 7-8 in the conference's North Division. The Cougars (21-5, 12-3) already have the league's South Division title wrapped up. They were led by Jody Lumpkin with 19 points and nine rebounds. Leighton Bowie followed with 18, and Jeff Bolton had 10. After six lead changes, the Cats went on top for good when Kori Hatcher's layup made it 16-15 at the 10:57 mark. Western gradually built the lead until it reached 32-20 on Whitmore's jumper with 3:15 on the clock. The Cougars cut the gap to 36-31 at intermission. WCU wasted little time getting the lead back to double digits as Whitmore's trey made it 41-31 at the 18:54 mark. The margin was 60-49 on a free throw by Jonas Hayes with 10:02 remaining. Five points from Troy Wheless keyed a 9-2 spurt as Charleston closed within 62-58 at the 7:21 mark. Whitmore responded with a trey 24 seconds later for a 65-58 lead. |