Making his WCU debut, junior transfer forward Cory Hightower scored a team-best 17 points as Western Carolina earned its fourth overtime victory of the season, 76-70, at College of Charleston on Friday night at TD Arena. Tied at 67 after 40 minutes, the Catamounts outscored the Cougars, 9-3, including five points from the free throw line in the extra session to improve to 7-2 on the season.
Friday’s win snapped a seven-game losing skid to the Cougars and was the first for the Catamounts in Charleston since the 2007-08 season when both teams were Southern Conference foes. Additionally, it is the first time WCU has played in four overtime games in a season since 2013-14 – and the first time according to available records that WCU has won four overtime games in a single season in program history.
Entering the game less than five minutes into Friday’s final nonconference game of 2020-21, Hightower recorded 17 points and seven rebounds in his first game leading five Catamounts in double figures. Hightower learned Wednesday that he was granted immediate eligibility following the passage of a blanket waiver for all Division I transfer student-athletes by the DI Council. The Flint, Mich., native went a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line. Redshirt senior Mason Faulkner (14 points), senior Matt Halvorsen (13), and sophomores Xavier Cork (11), and Tyler Harris (11) also finished in double digits with Cork pulling down a team-best nine rebounds.
Zep Jasper and Payton Willis both scored 16 points to lead the Cougars. Dontavious King posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
WCU jumped out to a 7-4 lead before a Willis 3-pointer evened the score at 9 with just over 15 minutes remaining in the first half. A Halvorsen 3-pointer gave the Catamounts a 16-11 lead with 11:33 to play as WCU led by five points on two separate occasions over the next three minutes before the Cougars pulled within one, 21-20, with 8:06 left in the half. A Harris 3-pointer gave the Catamounts a six-point, 33-27 lead – their largest of the opening half – with just under four minutes to play before the break. The Catamounts enjoyed their six-point advantage twice more during the final stages of the opening frame before a Willis layup sent the visitors into halftime with a 38-34 lead.
College of Charleston (2-4) tied the game at 40 with a King layup at the 17:48 mark of the second half before the Catamounts scored seven straight points for a 47-40 advantage with 14:19 to play. WCU had a cold snap from the field over the next nine-plus minutes as the Cougars took the first lead since the opening basket of the game, 57-56, with just over five minutes remaining. Trailing 60-56, the Catamounts went on an 8-0 run as a pair of Halvorsen free throws gave the visitors a 64-60 lead with 2:17 remaining.
However, with 10 seconds remaining and the Catamounts ahead 66-64, Faulkner made the first of two free throws, missing the second. College of Charleston’s Deangelo Epps grabbed the rebound and fed the ball to Willis who sank a 3-pointer that tied the game at 67 and forced overtime.
The overtime session was dominated by the Catamounts as WCU scored the first five points of the extra session before a Brendan Tucker jumper with 1:32 remaining. After both teams came up empty on their ensuing possessions, Faulkner’s jumper with 21 seconds left put the Catamounts ahead 74-69 as WCU led by no fewer than four points down the stretch.
WCU finished 24-for-49 (49.0 percent) from the field while College of Charleston went 26-for-63 (41. 3 percent). For the third straight game, WCU finished with the same number of rebounds as its opponent as both teams grabbed 35. The teams combined to shoot 52 free throws, but neither team shot better than WCU’s 65.7 percent at the charity stripe.
The Catamounts kick off the SoCon schedule on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at defending regular season and tournament champion ETSU. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and the Catamount Sports Network.
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