Jan. 27, 2004

Cullowhee, NC - All-American candidate Kevin Martin, the nation's leading scorer now with a 27.5 season average, scored 25 points, while senior Emre Atsur added 17, to lead Western Carolina (10-8, 4-4 SoCon) to a 71-42 victory over The Citadel (4-14, 0-7) Monday night at the Ramsey Activity Center.

The 29-point win by the Catamounts was their largest ever versus a SoCon opponent, bettering the previous best of 24 points in an 86-62 win over Chattanooga on Feb. 19, 1994. The 42 points by The Citadel was fewest the Catamounts had allowed since Feb. 15, 1964 when Western won 30-22 at Guilford.

Martin scored his 25 points in just 27 minutes of play, making 9-of-12 shots from the field, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, while sinking 5-of-8 free throws. Atsur had a near perfect night shooting in scoring his season-high of 17 points. The Istanbul, Turkey, native was 6-of-6 from the field, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range, and 1-of-2 at the line. Western jumped out to a 7-0 to start the game and The Citadel never got any closer. However, after Western built its largest lead of the half at 15 points (27-12) with 5:28 left, the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to trim their deficit to nine (27-18) after a Max Mombollet lay-up. Martin answered with a short jumper with 1:37 left and the Cats would enjoy a double-digit cushion the remainder of the contest. Jared Outing would score the half's final basket 30 seconds later as Western took a 31-18 lead at intermission.

In the second half, a 3-pointer by Atsur at the 14:07 mark put the Catamounts up 22 (46-24) and Western was able to keep at least a 20-point lead the rest of the way.

For the game, Western shot 54.2 percent from the field and, thanks to Atsur's performance, a season-best 60 percent from 3-point range (6-of-10).

In addition to Martin and Atsur, sophomore guard James Johnson and sophomore forward Corey Muirhead led the Cats. Johnson came off the bench to hand out a career-high nine assists with four points and four rebounds. Muirhead, who only had seven rebounds in his last four games combined, pulled down seven on the defensive end alone and finished with a total of eight. Outing also provided a spark off the bench for the Cats, getting four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

For the Bulldogs, J'mel Everhart and Mombollet each had 10 points to lead the way. Mombollet, who was 5-of-9 from the field, added eight rebounds, while Everhart collected six. Kevin Hammack contributed seven points with three assists and five steals.

Western Carolina will return to action Saturday (Jan. 31), hosting SoCon leader East Tennessee State. Tip-off is set for 7 pm. The Citadel will return to McAlister Field House to host cross-town rival College of Charleston on Saturday, January 31, at 1 pm.