Feb. 16, 2006

Cullowhee, N.C. - In addition to hosting SoCon North Division leader Elon on Saturday (Feb. 18) at 7:00 pm, the Western Carolina men's basketball team will honor two special groups. First, prior to tipoff, seniors David Berghoefer, Corey Muirhead and Jared Outing will be honored. Then, at halftime as part of Alumni Day, 14 members (as of Feb. 16) of the 1995-96 basketball team are scheduled to be on hand in recognition of this year being the 10th anniversary of them winning the SoCon South Division regular-season title, the 1996 SoCon Tournament and earning a berth in the 1996 NCAA Championship. A reception for all former men's basketball players, coaches, managers and alike will be held in the Ramsey Center Hospitality Room. (For more information or to make your reservation, contact Anquell McCollum at 828-227-2020.)

The 1995-96 Catamounts, under the direction of Phil Hopkins, did not seem a likely contender for the the SoCon titles nor the NCAA Championship, starting the season with a 3-10 record, including a 60-58 loss to Coker. However, the team rallied and won 14 of its next 16 before falling in the NCAA West Region. The team featured the SoCon's consensus Player of the Year, current WCU assistant coach Anquell McCollum, and the nation's top 3-point shooter, Joe Stafford, who made 52.7 percent (58-of-110) of his shots beyond the arc. In addition to those three, scheduled to attend are Joel Fleming, Kenny Gibson, Kevin Kullum, Larry Mayo, Lazarus Chennault, Jarvis Graham, Kerry Wright, Joey Bryson and assistant coach Brett Lamb.

The SoCon Tournament championship game was supposed to be Davidson's coronation party as the Wildcats entered the game with a 19-game win streak and a 25-3 record, but the Catamounts jerked the crown out of the Wildcats' hands and spoiled the festivities with a resounding 69-60 upset. Western shot only 36 percent from the floor and turned the ball over 24 times, but dominated underneath the boards, 51-39, made its free throws and used a masterful defensive plan that held Davidson to a season-low 32.9 percent field goal percentage, which included a 3-for-24 performance from behind the three-point arc. McCollum scored a season low 13 points, but his teammates stepped up their games. Kullum recorded a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and three steals; Wright contributed eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

The win over Davidson in the conference tournament championship game capped off a historic week for WCU basketball and the best second half record for a season in 25 years.

The week started on Monday, Feb. 26, with a resounding 91-72 win over Appalachian State in the final regular season game, a victory that clinched WCU's first ever Southern Conference South Division championship -- the school's first conference title of any type in 19 years of membership -- and clinched its first winning season since 1983-84.

Three conference tournament wins later, the Catamounts claimed their first ever Southern Conference Tournament championship and its accompanying automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Western Carolina received a number 16 seed and faced the top seed Purdue in the first round of the West Region in Albuquerque, N.M. The game was tied 71-71 with less than three minutes remaining in the contest. The Boilermakers' Brandon Brantley scored the game's final basket with 1:30 to play and WCU's final attempts to become the first number 16 to knock off a one seed came up empty.

Each year around the time of the NCAA's March Madness, without fail, sports writers from across the country contact the WCU Department of Athletics wanting information on that near upset.