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Cincinnati – Playing in front of his hometown friends and family, sophomore Kameron Gibson scored a team and season-best 16 points, but a second half scoring drought of over six minutes doomed Western Carolina in a 74-61 loss to Xavier as part of the Skip Prosser Classic at Cintas Center.
Gibson, who grew up in Cincinnati and attended Walnut Hills High School located less than five miles from Xavier’s campus, paced Western Carolina (7-3) with 16 points as he went 6-for-13 from the field. Redshirt junior Mason Faulkner, who transferred to WCU from nearby Northern Kentucky University, added 14 points and dished out a team-best six assists. Freshman Xavier Cork, senior Carlos Dotson, and freshman Tyler Harris each grabbed four rebounds.
Quentin Goodin scored a game-high 25 points to lead Xavier (10-2). Jason Carter and Zach Freemantle both finished in double figures with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Tyrique Jones pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Xavier's Paul Scruggs ended a scoreless drought that lasted for nearly the opening two minutes of the game Wednesday with a jumper at the 18:02 mark that opened the scoring. Following a Gibson 3-pointer on the next WCU possession, the Musketeers scored 10 of the next 12 points and pushed their lead to 12-5 thanks to a Freemantle dunk at the 13:44 mark. Xavier extended its lead to a first half-best 11, 19-8, on a Carter bucket before a 10-0 WCU run capped by a Faulkner floater brought the visitors within a point with just over seven minutes to play in the opening half.
Faulkner knotted the game at 21 on a 3-pointer with 3:47 to play before the break and the teams stayed within two points or tied for nearly the next three minutes until the Musketeers pulled ahead 32-27 with two Bryce Moore free throws. A pair of Faulkner free throws with six seconds left sent the Catamounts into halftime down by three, 32-29.
Gibson tied the game at 32 on WCU’s first second-half possession as the Catamounts answered Xavier’s next five points to remain tied with just over 18 minutes to go. Matt Halvorsen was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made the ensuing three free throws followed by a Marcus Thomas layup for a 42-37 Catamount lead at the 17:30 mark. Gibson’s 3-pointer with 15:34 to play put WCU up a game-high seven points, 50-43. Trailing 55-49, a Freemantle bucket with 12:44 remaining sparked an 11-0 Xavier run as the Musketeers led 60-55 following Goodin’s layup with just under six minutes remaining. Carter’s 3-pointer with 3:55 left put the hosts up 10, 67-57, as WCU got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Xavier held a 40-29 edge in rebounds though the offensive boards were even at eight apiece. The Musketeers finished 26-for-53 (49.1 percent) from the field and 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) behind the 3-point line. WCU finished 22-for-61 (36.1 percent) from the field and 8-for-26 (30.8 percent) behind the arc. The Catamounts were whistled for 18 fouls while Xavier was charged with 13 fouls.
WCU completes the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule on Saturday, traveling to Tennessee Tech (3-8) for a 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT tip-off. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with audio coverage from the Catamount Sports Network including live audio online at CatamountSports.com.