Western Carolina holds on to upset ETSU

Western Carolina continued to be a thorn in the East Tennessee State basketball program's side Thursday night at Freedom Hall Civic Center. The Catamounts, fueled by 49 first-half points, held on for a 90-88 victory over the Bucs. It was their ninth win in the last 10 games in the series. Brian Taylor II hit a 3-point shot with 0.4 seconds left to close the game within a point, but a flagrant foul called on the ensuing possession led to the final score. ETSU, which came into the contest with a one-game lead over Wofford in the Southern Conference, fell to 15-7 overall and 7-2. Western Carolina improved to 8-12 and 4-5. Western Carolina led by as many as 16 points. ETSU's Jordan McCullum cut the lead to three, 79-76, with a free throw with 1:20 left. The Catamounts' Tidjiane Dioumassi responded with a3-point goal on the other end to push the lead back to six points. Cam Morris III hit a 3-point shot for ETSU to give the Bucs some late hope, and later made a free throw. Western's Julien Soumaoro hit a pair of game-clinching free throws with 7.5 seconds left. ETSU never led in the game. The Catamounts, who won 72-68 in Cullowhee back in January, for the regular-season sweep, opened the game on a 16-4 run before the game's first timeout at 16:10 in the first half. ETSU cut the lead to four points, only to see Western push it back to 12 points at 29-17, and later to 16 points, 43-27, with 3:30 remaining. The Catamounts held a 49-35 halftime lead, which were the most points given up by the Bucs in a half this season. The Catamounts dominated the first half, including 26-8 points in the paint, a statistic which ETSU has easily beaten opponents in recent games. Taylor led ETSU with 24 points. Morris totaled 15 points and five assists. Blake Barkley contributed 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Jaylen Smith with a dozen points and Allen Strothers with 11 also reached double figures. Cord Stansberry and Soumaoro each finished with 19 points to lead Western. Marcus Kell had 14 points and Samuel Dada ended with 12 points and 13 rebounds. NEXT UP ETSU heads to Wofford on Saturday 2 p.m. in what is still a first-place SoCon showdown to be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network. Western Carolina is scheduled to host Samford on Saturday 1 p.m.