Sunday, December 3, 2023

Gardner-Webb trusts the process, hands Western Carolina its first loss

 

Gardner-Webb's Caleb Robinson notched a career-high 29 in Gardner-Webb's comeback win over Western Carolina Saturday night.  (Photo:  Gardner-Webb University Athletics)

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb coach Tim Craft has spoken at length about his team’s new style of play this season. It has been a battle at times – Craft has said he would have liked to have a couple more wins added to his team’s total – but he sees his team starting to turn a corner.

If Craft is trying to get his team to trust the process, knocking off one of the final remaining unbeaten teams in Division I basketball is a pretty solid start.

Craft’s Runnin’ Bulldogs shook off a frosty first half to shoot better than 55 percent in the second half and stave off a career-high 35 points from Western Carolina’s Vonterius Woolbright to deal the Catamounts an 82-77 defeat at Paul Porter Arena Saturday night.

“I think we’ve played well at times. It’s about getting better right now,” Craft said after the game. “I think guys like this new style of playing faster. What they’ve got to get used to is not playing as many minutes so we can do that. Some of the veteran guys, that’s a little hard for them. They’re doing a good job of trying to understand, buy in, not be selfish, and be great teammates. It was great to see them get rewarded tonight.”

Gardner-Webb (4-5) jumped out to an early three-point lead at 7-4, but the tide quickly turned. The Runnin’ Bulldogs missed 11-of-13 shots in a stretch that saw the visiting Catamounts take a 19-15 lead. Western Carolina (6-1) caught fire from there, unfurling a 14-1 run that put them ahead, 30-16, with 6:57 remaining in the period.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs slowly reversed course, chipping away at the advantage with a 12-5 burst that halved the margin. The teams traded free throws over their final two possessions, sending Western Carolina to the locker room with a 37-30 halftime lead. The Runnin’ Bulldogs hit just 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) in the first half, compounded by a 12.5 percent (1-for-8) shooting effort from beyond the arc. Gardner-Webb also hit just 13-of-24 first-half free throws.

“We went into halftime and were like, ‘Okay, we’ve figured it out.’ Once we figured it out, we just battled,” guard Caleb Robinson said.  “We know we’ve got dogs. We got the lead down and we kept fighting.”

“We’ve been down in games where guys have really responded well to adversity,” Craft said. “We felt we didn’t really play very well in the first half, and still were down seven. I thought the end of the half was big for us, just to kind of get it a little bit closer. We felt we hadn’t shot free throws well, had made some defensive mistakes we shouldn’t have made, and were still right there in the game. Guys have just got to keep believing in themselves, believing in each other, and believing in the plan.”

Western Carolina continued its lead through the first two segments of the second half, though Robinson scored 10 of Gardner-Webb’s first 13 points of the period. Robinson, who finished with a career-high 29, seemed to embrace the challenge of overcoming his first-half woes and helping stem the second-half tide.

“My teammates just kept asking me, ‘Why are you not shooting the ball? You can shoot.’  I was like, ‘I’m not trying to force it,’” Robinson said.

“He doesn’t shoot many threes. He’s really good at getting into the paint and getting to the foul line,” Craft said. “We kind of expected them to (play off Robinson). You just have to figure out a way to move the defense. He did a great job of taking the space and still getting to the basket and being able to continue to get to the free throw line, even though they were playing way off of him. He made a couple threes, too, so that was good to see.”

The Runnin’ Bulldogs finally drew square at 57 on a DQ Nicholas triple with 8:39 to play, following several chances to do so. After a Tre Jackson jumper, Robinson put home back-to-back buckets and converted a free throw to put Gardner-Webb ahead, 62-59. The buckets keyed a 16-6 Gardner-Webb burst that ran the lead out to 10.

Western Carolina scored back-to-back baskets that sliced the home side’s advantage to six. Gardner-Webb guard Julien Soumaoro then scored the first two of his seven points in a two-minute span, putting home a nifty up-and-under bucket that put the Runnin’ Bulldogs back ahead by eight.

“I thought of what a big bucket he had late in the game,” Craft said of Soumaoro. “He had that big layup where he was just patient to get an angle to the basket. It was just great to see guys step up and make plays in crunch time. That’s what you’ve got to do to win close games. His leadership was really good. He was a big part of the win and had a critical bucket there late.”

Woolbright almost singlehandedly guided the Catamounts to a victory, scoring 16 of his team’s final 18 points. The senior standout rolled in a layup with 15 seconds remaining that cut the deficit to two at 79-77. After a Gardner-Webb free throw, Kamar Robertson’s three-point try that would have tied the game could not find the mark, and the Runnin’ Bulldogs were able to put the game away at the free throw line.

Western Carolina coach Justin Gray remained upbeat about his team despite the result.

“There’s nothing to hang their head about,” Gray said after the game. “We’ll be back. We’ll have the opportunity on Tuesday to go out and compete again. That’s the beauty of it. We’ve got winners over there.”

Woolbright notched a double-double, tallying 35 points and hauling in 14 caroms on 13-of-22 shooting and 9-of-12 from the line. DJ Campbell added 10 on 4-for-8 shooting, along with four boards. WCU hit 45.5 percent (25-for-55) of its tries from the deck, despite just 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from distance. The Catamounts put home 23-of-29 (79.3 percent) from the line.

Robinson recorded his own double-double and career-high for the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Robinson’s 29 came on 8-of-15 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the line. The senior snatched 13 of Gardner-Webb’s 40 boards in the victory. Nicholas contributed 13, while Soumaoro added 12. The Runnin’ Bulldogs shot 41.4 percent (24-for-58) on the night, with one-third of their three-point attempts (5-for-15) finding the net. The home side finished the night hitting 29-of-48 (60.4 percent) from the charity stripe.

The Catamounts return to play Tuesday with another road tilt against a Big South opponent. Western Carolina and High Point are set for a 7:00 (Eastern) tip at the Qubein Center in High Point, N.C. Gardner-Webb will have a second-straight home tilt against a Southern Conference opponent Wednesday night, when nearby Wofford University visits Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs for a 7:00 start. Both games will be streamed over ESPN+.

GARDNER-WEBB 82, WESTERN CAROLINA 77

WESTERN CAROLINA (6-1)

Jones Jr. 2-8 2-2 7, Woolbright 13-22 9-12 35, Jackson 3-7 0-0 8, Campbell 4-8 2-2 10, Lampten 0-0 0-0 0, Robertson 0-4 4-4 4, Pelote 2-4 0-0 5, Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 1-2 6-9 8, Granger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 23-29 77.

GARDNER-WEBB (4-5)

Robinson 8-15 11-12 29, Soumaoro 3-11 6-8 12, Nicholas 5-11 2-5 13, Stieber 2-5 4-8 9, Sissoko 0-0 0-0 0, Mykalcio 2-4 0-2 4, Aldridge 2-6 0-1 5, Badmus 1-2 2-7 4, Simmons 0-0 0-0 0, Lazar 0-3 0-0 0, Richards 1-1 4-5 6. Totals 24-58 29-48 82.

Halftime:  Western Carolina 37-30. 3-Point goals:  Gardner-Webb 5-15 (Robinson 2-3, Soumaoro 0-3, Nicholas 1-2, Stieber 1-3, Aldridge 1-2, Lazar 0-2), Western Carolina 4-17 (Jones Jr. 1-4, Woolbright 0-2, Jackson 2-6, Campbell 0-1, Robertson 0-2, Pelote 1-2). Fouled out:  Pelote (WCU), Robinson (GWU). Rebounds:  Gardner-Webb 40 (Robinson 13), Western Carolina 35 (Woolbright 14). Assists:  Gardner-Webb 9 (Nicholas 3), Western Carolina 6 (Campbell 2). Total fouls:  Western Carolina 30, Gardner-Webb 21. Technicals:  NA.

Points off turnovers:  Gardner-Webb 14, Western Carolina 7.  Points in the paint:  Western Carolina 36, Gardner-Webb 34.  Second-chance points:  Gardner-Webb 15, Western Carolina 3.  Fast-break points:  Gardner-Webb 9, Western Carolina 5.  Bench points:  Gardner-Webb 19, Western Carolina 17.

 


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