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 WCU and North Greenville will play on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 7 pm. Last season, Emre Atsur came off the bench last season and played a key role in the Cats defeating the Crusaders. |
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Jan. 2, 2004
Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina men's basketball team, featuring the nation's leading scorer in Kevin Martin, will host the North Greenville College Crusaders on Saturday (Jan. 3). Tip-off at the Ramsey Activity Center is set for 7 pm.
Initial schedules released by the WCU Department of Athletics had no game scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 3. However, at the request of the Southern Conference and to accommodate Wofford's game at Texas on Dec. 4, the Western Carolina men's basketball team moved two basketball games. The Catamounts, who were originally scheduled to play at Wofford on Dec. 4, moved the game to Dec. 15, a contest Western Carolina won 93-79. That move forced Western to reschedule its home game with North Greenville, which was set to be played on Dec. 15, to Saturday, Jan. 3.
Western Carolina (6-4) is coming off an 84-69 loss at Montana State, snapping WCU's five game winning streak. The Cats lead the SoCon in field goal percentage defense (.388) and rank second by making 46.8 percent of their field goal attempts. Martin, a junior guard, continues to lead the nation in scoring, currently averaging 26.9 points per game. North Greenville (4-6) is coming off consecutive wins, but have not played since Dec. 13.
This will be the second all-time meeting between Western Carolina and North Greenville. Last season, the Catamounts handed the Crusaders a 96-81 loss on Dec. 10, giving Western Carolina its 1,000th all-time victory.
Western, playing without an ailing Martin, trailed the Crusaders 47-39 at halftime. WCU's lone senior last year, Kori Hatcher, scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as WCU out-scored North Greenville 57-34 in the second half. Hatcher made all four of his 3-point attempts in the game and was 6-of-7 from the field overall.
In addition to Hatcher's play, reserves Emre Atsur and Brian Gaither, neither of whom played in the first half, combined for 37 minutes of playing time in the second half. Atsur scored 14 points with three assists and three rebounds, while Gaither hit a trey with three rebounds and two assists. James Johnson also performed well off the bench, scoring a career-high 11 points, making 6-of-8 free throws, with five assists and four steals. Terrence Woodyard scored 17 points with eight rebounds. He was 7-of-13 from the field with three blocked shots. The forward made a conventional 3-point play at the 16:18 mark, giving WCU a lead it would not relinquish.
While WCU did lead the final 14 minutes of the game, the contest was in question until the final 5:30. With Western holding an eight-point advantage, Atsur drained a 3-pointer, sparking an 11-0 run and giving the Cats a 92-73 lead with 2:46 left.
North Greenville was led by Rob Wilton and Jori Searcy, who each scored 24 points.
