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 Sophomore forward Nick Aldridge slams home two of his team-high tying 15 points against Milligan Wednesday night. |
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Oct. 31, 2007
Cullowhee, N.C. - All but one Catamount scored with six registering double figures Wednesday night as Western Carolina rode a dominating first half performance to a 102-61 victory over the visiting Milligan College Buffaloes in exhibition action in the Ramsey Center.
WCU was led by a pair of sophomores and a freshman each tallying 15 points. Second-year forward Nick Aldridge, who was named preseason All-Southern Conference this week, and classmate Brandon Giles each tallied 15 - 14 of which came in the decisive first half - with freshman Camden Miller also dumping in 15 points off the bench. Aldridge added six rebounds and a team-high three steals while shooting 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
Also tallying double-figures for WCU was senior Negus McKenna with a dozen, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the 3-point arc. Guards Jake Robinson and Michael Porrini each chipped in 11 with Robinson burying three treys and Porrini adding four assists. Senior Arnold Gore just missed double-digits with eight points.
On the glass, freshman Blake Gallagher led in rebounds corralling a game-high eight boards, seven on the defensive end.
Western Carolina used a 12-0 run over the opening two minutes of the game to set the tone against the NAIA-member Buffaloes. Giles scored eight of the Catamounts first dozen with Milligan scratching the scoreboard at the 17:36 mark with a pair of Tyler Esteep charity tosses. WCU continued to pull ahead throughout the remainder of the half, pushing its advantage to a half-high 31 on two separate occasions on triples from Robinson and junior transfer, Tim Magowan, with the latter coming with just 30 seconds remaining before the break.
The Catamounts held a commanding 28-point, 54-26, lead at intermission.
Out of the halftime locker room, Milligan was able to chisel into the Catamount lead with four unanswered points before Western was able to again balloon the advantage back to the 30-point plateau. The advantage hovered inside the 30s until midway through the half when a quick 5-0 spurt by Western pushed the lead to 40, 83-43, on another Robinson trey before concluding the game with its largest advantage of 41 points, 102-61.
Western Carolina shot 55.9-percent from the floor for the game, including a sizzling 57.1-percent in the first half alone including 7-of-13 from 3-point range. Conversely, the Catamount defense limited the Buffaloes to 26.9-percent shooting over the opening 20 minutes with Milligan countering with 42.9-percent after intermission to finish at 35.2-percent for the game.
Four Buffaloes scored in double-figures as both Jeff Barnes and Danny McKeehan scored 14 points in the loss, with Danny McKeehan and Isaiah Harris each tallying 10 points. Harris was a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc off the bench for the Buffs with McKeehan tallying eight of his 14 points from the free throw line.
The Catamounts open their 2007-08 regular season next weekend, Nov. 9-11, as they travel to the Peggy Cronin Classic hosted by the University of Cincinnati. Western will face Bowling Green - the team in which head coach Larry Hunter secured his first victory at WCU two seasons ago - on Friday, Nov. 9 at 5:00 pm. The tournament includes games against the host Bearcats (Nov. 10, 7:00 pm) and Belmont (Nov. 11, 5:00 pm).
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