Cats Fall On the Road to College of Charleston but Defeat Ga. Southern

In the last two games, the Cats have been carried by freshman forward Nick Aldridge. February 5, 2007 in Charleston, South Carolina would be no different as Aldridge lit up the College of Charleston Cougars with 39 points and seven rebounds. Aldridge’s effort, however, came in a 76-64 loss to the Cougars. The Catamounts (9&14, 6&6 SoCon) could not end their losing streak to the Cougars, which was extended to eight after the loss. The Cougars opened the game an 8-zip run during the first three minutes. College of Charleston out-shot the Catamounts from both the field and from long range, which ended up paying dividends for the Cougars. The Cougars shot 55.1% from the field for the game, including 45.5% from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, the Cats finished the game shooting 40.4%, and a miserable 7.7% from downtown. The Cats were only able to knock down one three-point bucket in the entire contest shooting 1-for-13. Aldridge’s 39 points was a career high for the Ohio native. He was the only Catamount in double figures and was the only hot hand for Western. While the team shot 40 percent, Aldridge shot 50 percent on 14-of-28 shooting. He also shot 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. The next highest scorer behind Aldridge was junior Arnold Gore who finished with eight points. Freshman Jake Robinson, who had the hot hand in the last two contests against Wofford and The Citadel, was 0-for-4 from downtown and finished with four points. Following the devastating loss in South Carolina, the Cats returned to the Ramsey Center on February 10 to take on the Eagles of Georgia Southern. The Catamounts rebounded from their 12 point loss against College of Charleston, and had a 12 point victory against the Eagles winning 69-57. The Catamounts snapped a seven game losing skid to the Eagles and were carried by junior transfer Arnold Gore who had 17 points and five rebounds. Aldridge had 16 points, six assists, and seven rebounds in the Catamount victory. Like the previous wins against Wofford and The Citadel, the Cats had to crawl back into this game in order to seal the deal. Western trailed the majority of the first half, and for the first five minutes of the second before going on a huge run from which they never looked back. The only first half lead held by the Cats was when Western led 2-0. At the half, the Cats trailed 32-26 and the Eagles held the lead for nearly 18 of the first 20 minutes. When the second half rolled around, the rejuvenated and re-energized Catamounts went on an 11-to-2 run to take the 37-34 lead in the first four minutes of the second period. For the next four minutes, the Catamounts and the Eagles traded buckets, and then Western went on a power surge. Embarking on a 12-to-2 run, the Cats turned a three point lead (43-40) into a 13 point lead (60-47) with 6:42 remaining in the contest. Inside the final two minutes, the Cats built a lead by as much as 15. The double digit win came off of freshman Brandon Giles’ dunk from an assist by classmate Brigham Waginger. Helping out Gore and Aldridge were junior Antonio Russell with 15 points and five boards, freshman Jake Robinson had 10 points and six rebounds, and Brandon Giles with nine points and five pull-downs. The Cats are currently above .500 in the Southern Conference with a 7&6 record. They look to extend that mark with a victory against their next opponent, the Chattanooga Mocs. Earlier this season the Cats defeated the Mocs and they will be looking to do it again back in the Ramsey Center.