Recap: Western Carolina vs. UNC Greensboro

Cullowhee, NC (Sports Network) - Trey Sumler scored a team-best 17 points, shooting 11-of-13 at the free-throw line, as the Western Carolina Catamounts held on for the 62-59 win over the UNC Greensboro Spartans in Southern Conference play at the Ramsey Center.

Also scoring in double figures for the Catamounts (7-9, 4-0, SoCon) was Preston Ross who tallied 12 points off the bench as the program matched its best-ever start to league play, duplicating the effort by the 1994-95 squad in SoCon action.

As for the Spartans (3-11, 1-2), losers of six of the last seven outings, they were paced by Derrell Armstrong who registered a game-high 25 points on 9- of-20 shooting from the field, followed by Nicholas Paulos with 10 points in the setback.

Both teams had trouble shooting the ball from the floor in the first half, UNCG hitting on just 31.0 percent and the Catamounts 34.6 percent as the latter claimed a 24-23 advantage at the break.

Western Carolina again had issues from the field over the final 20 minutes of action, connecting on just 28.6 percent and coming up empty on all six tries beyond the arc, but still the hosts were in control.

Armstrong made a pair of late 3-pointers for UNCG, cutting the deficit to 61-59 with under five seconds remaining. James Sinclair was then sent to the free-throw line for the Catamounts and made the first of his two attempts. Following the miss on the second try, the Spartans had one last chance to tie the game but a desperation 3-pointer missed the mark at the buzzer.

The Catamounts outscored the visitors 31-13 at the charity stripe.