Nov. 28, 2001
Cullowhee, N.C. - Freshman Kevin Martin scored a game-high 21 points to lead Western Carolina to a 94-61 victory over Emmanuel College Wednesday night at the Ramsey Activity Center.
Martin was 7-of-12 from the field, making all five of his two-point attempts, and 5-of-6 from the free throw line, while adding eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. He was joined in double figures by Willie Freeman (14 points), Cory Largent (13), Rans Brempong (12) and Kelvin Wylie (11). Freeman and Wylie just missed double-doubles with nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
Western jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game before hitting a dry spell, allowing the Lions to cut the lead to three at the 13:36 mark. Emmanuel kept the game close until Western went on a 9-2 run to grab it largest lead of the first half, 33-17, at the 6:59 mark. The Catamounts were held scoreless over the final 2:07 of the first half, but still managed a 40-28 lead at the break.
Western extended its halftime lead to 20 five minutes into the second half and, after a 21-8 run from the 13:24 mark until 6:15 left, led by 31 to put the game away.
The Catamounts, who shot an impressive 51.4 percent from the field in the first half, only missed eight second-half shots, going 20-of-28 (.714) from the field to finish the night shooting 60.3 percent. Western's defense, which forced 25 Lion turnovers, blocked 11 shots and held Emmanuel to just 33.3 percent shooting for the game. Brempong blocked a season-high five shots, while freshman Terrence Woodyard had three blocked shots. The sophomore has nine blocked shots over the past two games and only needs nine more to become the school's all-time leader. (Brempong has 104 in his second season at WCU. Tommy Lavelle is the current school leader with 112 career blocked shots over four seasons.)
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Western will end its current three-game homestand with a Saturday (Dec. 1) men's and women's doubleheader versus region rival UNC Asheville in the second annual Asheville Citizen-Times Mountain Hoops Classic. The women's game with the Bulldogs is set for 1:00 p.m., in the RAC, while the men's game is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m.
