Jan. 9, 2008

Western Carolina vs. Furman Game Notes

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina hosts the Furman Paladins in Southern Conference men's basketball action Thursday night at 7:03 pm in the Ramsey Center. It marks the second meeting in the past seven days between the Catamounts and Paladins as Furman downed WCU, 64-60, last Thursday in Greenville.

Thursday's game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 and 680 AM WRGC. Both radio stations also offer streaming audio on-line at www.WWCUFM.com and www.WRGC.com. Air time on Thursday is 6:45 pm.

Fans can also follow all of the action with live GameTracker - a feature presented by Carolina West Sports Medicine and West Care Health Systems - by logging onto www.CatamountSports.com.

WCU will celebrate Canton/Clyde Day on Thursday with a special buy one, get one FREE ticket promotion (with voucher). Fans can see all of the exciting hoop action by purchasing one (1) ticket and getting one FREE with voucher. Special Canton/Clyde Day vouchers are available at the following locations: Home Trust Bank in Clyde, Campion Credit Union in Canton, Single-Stop stores, World Gym in Canton, Brock Insurance Agency, Phillip Fisher and Greene Brothers Well Drilling.

In conjunction with Canton/Clyde day, former Pisgah High School standout Jake Robinson will be the featured player on Jan. 10. Commemorative posters of the Canton native, featuring rosters and game notes on the flip side, will be available for purchase. Following the game, Robinson will also be courtside signing autographs.

Last season, Western rode the emotion from its Canton/Clyde Day crowd (4,217) to a 69-57 victory over Georgia Southern, snapping a seven-game drought against the Eagles.

Thursday night is also WCU Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night with employees of Western Carolina University receiving a FREE admission when they present their University ID at the ticket window. The first 100 WCU employees through the gates will also receive a nifty Cat Backer back sack, courtesy of Catamount Clothing & Gifts

Western (4-10, 0-4 SoCon) is seeking its first league win after falling by 13 to conference favorite, Davidson, last Saturday as the Catamounts return home for the first time since Dec. 27. Western has won two-straight in the friendly confines of the Ramsey Center, downing both North Carolina Central and Presbyterian in December.

Western has two players averaging double-figures in the form of freshman Michael Porrini and sophomore Brandon Giles, each right at 12.5 points per game. Porrini (2.23) and sophomore Brigham Waginger (2.00) rank among the league-leaders in steals, standing 1-and-2 in the rankings entering the game and rank 45th and 84th in the nation, respectively.

The Catamounts trail in the all-time series, 20-35, but hold a two-game lead in games played in Cullowhee, 13-11. Furman has claimed seven of the last eight meetings in the series overall, and although the two teams did not meet in Cullowhee last season, WCU has claimed victory in five of the last six games played at the Ramsey Center dating back to 1997.

Furman enters the game with an overall record of 2-12 and 1-4 in SoCon action. The Paladins picked up back-to-back wins over Howard in tournament action in California before downing WCU last week. FU is coming off a 77-60 loss home loss to Chattanooga last Saturday.

Tip-off Thursday is set for 7:03 pm.

 

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