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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