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Western defeats Mercer |
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Western Carolina concluded the pre-Christmas portion of its basketball schedule with an 85-78 win Dec. 21 at Mercer.
Dondrell Whitmore led the Catamounts (7-3) with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Jarvis Hayes added 16 points and 11 boards. Casey Rogers scored 13 points and handed out seven assists while Jonas Hayes netted 10 points. Chris Hill turned in an outstanding performance for Mercer with 32 points and eight rebounds. Rodney Kirtz and Aleem Muhammad both dished out five assists in front of 472 fans at Porter Gym. Western quickly extended a 41-34 halftime lead to 49-36 before the Bears began to chip away. Six points, including a three-pointer by Hill, cut the gap to 56-54. WCU led 67-58 before Mercer rallied for a 73-73 tie. Rogers hit a three-pointer with less than five minutes to play giving the Cats the lead for good. They made six of seven free throws down the stretch to secure the win. Completing the WCU scoring were Leon Davis and Kori Hatcher with eight points each, Cory Largent with seven and Ricky Gandy with four. Western shot 46.5 percent from the field while the Bears made 38.6 percent of their field goal tries. The Cats controlled the boards 48-37. They committed 15 turnovers, and Mercer had 12. WCU will be on the road tonight (Thursday) for a 7:30 game against N.C. State. Southern Conference play will begin Monday with a 7 p.m. contest at Chattanooga. Back to Sports: 12/30/99. |
Back to Archive: 12-30-99. |