Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina rallied from a nine-point second half deficit to down Furman, 79-67, in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, N.C.
 
Furman carried a 41-38 lead into halftime and Garrett Hien hit two of the Paladins' three triples during a 9-3 spurt to extend the lead to 50-41 with 16 minutes to play. The Catamounts, behind a 10-of-22 effort behind the arc and 35-21 rebounding margin, responded by outscoring the Paladins 38-17 over the final 16 minutes, however, to snap a 13-game skid against Furman.
 
With Western Carolina trailing 57-55 and under 10 minutes remaining, Bernard Pelote grabbed an offensive board and scored to tie the game and gave the Catamounts the lead on the next possession with a basket in the paint. Vonterius Woolbright followed with a basket and Tre Jackson capped WCU's 9-0 run with a triple from the top of the key to put the Catamounts ahead 64-57 with 7:49 to go.
 
Furman trailed just 66-60 with under 6:30 remaining, but Russell Jones Jr. scored four straight points to ignite another 9-0 spurt that helped Western Carolina increase its advantage to 75-60 en route to its first SoCon win of 2022-23.
 
Jackson paced the Catamounts with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting behind the arc, while Jones finished with 15 points. Woolbright and Pelote added 14 points apiece as Western Carolina outscored the Paladins 41-26 over the final 20 minutes.
 
Western Carolina (8-7, 1-1 SoCon) shot 51.9% from the field and converted on 13-of-16 trips to the foul line. The Catamounts managed a 20-8 scoring edge in the paint during the second half and tallied 13 second-chance points on the strength of 11 offensive rebounds.
 
Hien, who made good on 8-of-11 field goal tries and drained 4-of-7 three-point attempts, matched his career high with 20 points to lead the Paladins. Mike Bothwell posted 18 points and Jalen Slawson finished with 16.
 
Furman shot 49% from the field but connected on just 34.6% of its second half attempts. The Paladins went 8-of-23 from three-point range and 11-of-18 at the foul line.
 
Furman (10-5, 1-1 SoCon) returns home to host arch-rival The Citadel on Wednesday, January 4, at Timmons Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the action on 97.7 FM, 1330 AM, and through the Audacy app with Dan Scott and Tom Van Hoy on the call.