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CULLOWHEE -- Western Carolina scored eight of the game's final 11 points to break a 72-72 tie and claim a 80-75 win over UNCG in Southern Conference men's basketball action at the Ramsey Center on Thursday night.

Redshirt freshman Harouna Mutombo finished with a career-high 29 points to lead Western Carolina (7-5, 2-0 Southern Conference). The Catamounts also got 20 points from Brandon Giles, who played the final 10:54 with four fouls.

UNCG (1-11, 0-3) got 23 points from Mikko Koivisto, two shy of a career high and his second game of 20 or more points this season. He tied a career-high with six three pointers in the game.

Freshman forward Damian Eargle added 13 points and Ben Stywall chipped in with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

UNCG rallied from a 13-point first half deficit to lead by nine with 9:09 to play. However, a 17-2 run by Western Carolina erased that advantage as the Catamounts gamble of leaving Giles in with four fouls paid off.

The second half featured five ties and eight lead changes. After Eargle hit one of two at the foul line to make 73-72, Mutombo converted a conventional three-point play to give the Catamounts a 75-73 advantage with 1:23 to play. UNCG's Stywall was fouled 12 seconds later and hit both free throws to tie the score.

But Mutombo was fouled on the other end with one minute left and made both to give the Catamounts the lead for good, 77-75. UNCG turned the ball over three straight possessions trying to get the lead back.

WCU's leading scorer Giles picked up his fourth foul with 10:54 to play and the Catamounts decided to gamble and leave him out on the floor. Meanwhile, Kendall Toney found Stywall on the fast break on UNCG's next trip down the floor for a dunk and the Spartans had their biggest lead to that point at seven.

The lead hit nine, but UNCG had just one field goal in the next five minutes resulting in a 17-2 run by Western Carolina that erased the and gave Western Carolina a 70-64 advantage with six minutes to play. UNCG responded with six straight, though, to tie it again at 70-all.

UNCG (1-11, 0-3)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Stywall 30 3-6 5-5 3-8 5 2 11

Eargle 28 6-10 1-2 2-5 0 4 13

Jackson 27 1-4 0-0 0-1 0 5 2

Koivisto 32 6-13 5-5 0-2 2 2 23

Oliver 25 1-4 2-4 2-3 5 4 5

Clement 7 2-5 0-0 0-1 0 1 6

Smith 9 0-1 0-0 1-1 1 1 0

Toney 24 3-6 0-0 1-7 2 1 7

Brown 18 2-3 4-4 2-2 1 3 8

Totals 200 24-52 17-20 13-36 16 23 75

Percentages: FG .462, FT .850.

3-point goals: 10-24, .417 (Koivisto 6-12, Oliver 1-3, Clement 2-4, Smith 0-1, Toney 1-4).

Team rebounds: 36.

Blocked shots: 2 (Eargle 1, Brown 1).

Turnovers: 18 (Stywall 4, Eargle 2, Koivisto 6, Olver 3, Clement 1, Toney 2).

Steals: 5 (Stywall 1, Eargle 2, Jackson 1, Koivisto 1).

Technical fouls: None.

WESTERN CAROLINA (7-5, 2-0)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Gordon 7 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 0

Giles 33 8-17 1-1 3-7 0 4 20

Avery 27 3-7 2-6 1-2 0 1 9

Waginger 33 2-7 0-0 0-3 5 1 6

Mutombo 34 10-13 8-12 5-8 2 3 29

Cole 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Gailliard 15 1-1 4-6 0-3 1 4 6

Magowan 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 3

Gallagher 19 1-3 0-2 5-5 1 2 2

Robinson 21 1-7 2-2 0-0 2 2 5

Totals 200 27-56 17-29 14-30 11 20 80

Percentages: FG .482, FT .586.

3-point goals: 9-24, .375 (Giles 3-5, Avery 1-3, Waginger 2-6, Mutombo 1-2, Magowan 1-1, Robinson 1-7).

Team rebounds: 30.

Blocked shots: 0.

Turnovers: 12 (Gordon 1, Giles 1, Avery 2, Mutombo 4, Magowan 3, Robinson 1).

Steals: 11 (Avery 2, Waginger 2, Mutombo 3, Gailliard 1, Magowan 1, Gallagher 1, Robinson 1).

Technical fouls: None.

UNCG 34 41 -- 75

Western Carolina 38 72 -- 80

Officials--Nance, Heater, Clougherty.

Attendance--412