Western Carolina could not overcome 22 points from ETSU senior guard Ryan Lawson as the Bucs went on for the 89-86 victory Saturday in Cullowhee, N.C.
With the win, the Bucs moved into a three-way tie in the Southern Conference North Division with Appalachian State and Davidson.
Lawson hit five 3-pointers and was 5-of-6 from the foul line to lead the Bucs. Freshman point guard Tim Smith followed, hitting 7-16 from the field, with 21 points.
Western Carolina freshman Corey Muirhead scored a career-high 23 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Bucs held on for the win.
Two of Lawson’s free throws came on a technical with 23 seconds left in the game. Smith also was proficient from long range, making 3-of-4 treys.
With 6:27 left and Western holding a one-point lead (72-71), Zakee Wadood made a pair of free throws to spark a 10-2 Buc run to make the score 81-74 with 1:43 remaining. The Cats immediately answered with a Kori Hatcher 3-pointer to cut WCU’s deficit to three (81-77). The teams traded baskets, then Smith hit two free throws, followed by a Lawson free throw to once again give ETSU a seven-point advantage (86-79) with 34 seconds left. While Western was going to the free-throw line, a technical was called on the Catamount bench with 23 seconds left in the game. Lawson hit the two free throws.
Western came right back out as Kevin Martin hit two from the line to make the score 88-81. Emre Atsur stripped the ball off Jerald Fields and drained a 3-pointer to make the score 88-84 in the Bucs’ favor with 15 seconds left. Smith only went 1-for-2 at the line on ETSU’s next possession and Martin made it a 3-point game with eight seconds left by hitting two free throws. Fields then missed two free throws, leaving Western time for a desperation heave but came up short as time expired.
Despite trailing most of the first half, ETSU took a 46-40 lead at the break. The stats were fairly even through the first 20 minutes as WCU shot 56 percent from the field and ETSU shot 52. However, the Bucs hit 7-of-11 3-pointers, compared to just 1-of-5 by WCU, and held an 18-12 rebound advantage.
Both teams continued to shoot well in the second period as Western shot 58 percent for the game, compared to 52 percent by ETSU. The Cats were also able to keep in the game by making six 3-pointers in the second half, while ETSU only hit three. The difference in the game was ETSU going to the line 35 times, making 23, while the Cats only made 22 trips and making 17.
In addition to Lawson and Smith, Wadood and Fields scored in double figures for East Tennessee. Wadood finished with 16 points, three steals and seven rebounds. Fields added 10 points.
For Western (8-17, 5-9), Martin finished with 19 points, sinking 11-of-12 at the line, while Rans Brempong and Hatcher each scored 10. Brempong added seven rebounds, while Hatcher dished out eight assists with three steals.
ETSU (16-9, 10-4) has two regular season games remaining, both at home. The Bucs will play Furman today at 7:30 p.m. and will wrap up their regular season, hosting Appalachian State at Memorial Center on March 1.

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