Western Carolina advances to semifinals

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Junior Harouna Mutombo scored 20 points to lead Western Carolina to a 77-66 win over UNC Greensboro in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament Saturday.

Mike Williams scored 13 points and Trey Sumler added 12 for WCU (18-14) which will face either Wofford or Appalachian State on Sunday.

Freshmen Trevis Simpson led UNCG (6-24) with 17 points and Brandon Evans added 13 points.

The Catamounts scored 36 points in the paint and got 29 points off 21 UNCG turnovers.

WCU held the Spartans to just four free throws during a 6:30 stretch in the first half and built a 15-point lead with five minutes to go in the half. The Catamounts led 40-31 at halftime after shooting 16-of-32 from the floor and forcing 10 turnovers.

UNCG pulled within 51-45. But Mutombo responded with a 3-pointer that sparked an 11-2 run leading to a 62-47 advantage.

See Sunday's Times Free Press for more SoCon tournament coverage. Follow David Uchiyama on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP