Photo by Jarrett A. Frazier
Chattanoga’s Troy Cage drives to the basket against Western Carolina’s Harouna Mutombo in first half action on Friday night in Cullowhee.CULLOWHEE, N.C. — Omar Wattad jumped off the bench and celebrated a game-tying layup by Ricky Taylor with 12 seconds to go.
That’s about all the energy he could muster in a game that came down to the final second despite the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga having four players feeling the after-effects of the flu and one in sweats suspended for the game.
Western Carolina guard Trey Sumler hit the first of two free throws with one second left to lift the Catamounts to a 69-68 Southern Conference win over the North-leading Mocs.
“On paper it’s a loss, but I feel like we fought hard, played until the end and we did our best as a team,” said Jahmal Burroughs, who scored 10 points in his first start of the season. “When you don’t have those guys [at full strength], we have to find other players to fill that gap.
“Everybody that played did their part plus more.”