Friday, November 25, 2016

Western Carolina Travels West to Face First Time Foe JSU

CULLOWHEE, North Carolina --  The Western Carolina men’s basketball team will travel to Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) member Jackson State for a Saturday night clash which will mark the first meeting between the two programs. Both teams enter the contest having fallen to North Carolina Central, Marshall and Ohio State in the Global Sports Invitational. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm Saturday night with audio coverage through the Catamount Sports Network with Daniel Hooker on the call.

Western Carolina (1-4, 0-0 SoCon) at Jackson State (1-4, 0-0 SWAC)
Saturday, Nov. 26 | 7 p.m. | Jackson, Miss. | Williams Athletics Center (6,000)

MEDIA
Radio: Catamount Sports Network 
Talent: Daniel Hooker (PxP)
Live Stats: CatamountSports.com 
Twitter Updates: @Catamounts

Catamounts Versus Jackson State
• Saturday night’s game will be the first meeting between Western Carolina and Jackson State in men’s basketball.
• Jackson State is one of two first time opponents for the Catamounts this month. WCU had also never faced Miami (Fla.).

WCU and the SWAC
• The Catamounts have played just one of the 10 current members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and hold a perfect 1-0 mark in those games.
• The only SWAC school the Catamounts have faced is Grambling State University.
• The lone meeting took place in 1991 at the Ball State/Cardinal Varsity Club Classic in Muncie, Ind. WCU won the contest 112-87.

On The Road Again
• The game against Jackson State marks the third of a seven game road swing for the Catamounts.
• WCU will travel to five different states for the seven games.

International Flair
• Three of Western Carolina’s five starters come from outside the United States.
• Starting guard Haboubacar Mutombo is from just north of the U.S. in Pickering, Ontario, Canada while WCU’s two forwards call Europe home.
• Sophomore forward Marc Gosselin is a native of Lyon, France while freshman forward Yalim Olcay comes from Izmir, Turkey.
• Olcay has the longest journey home which is 5,670 miles. Gosselin has to travel 4,439 miles home while Mutombo has a relatively short 861 mile journey.

Rebounding The Ball
• Haboubacar Mutombo and Marc Gosselin have each led the Catamounts in rebounds in two of the last four games.
• Mutombo led the squad against Hiwassee and Marshall while Gosselin grabbed the lead against North Carolina Central and Ohio State.
• They have each surpassed their career-highs in boards over the last two games as well.
• Mutombo ripped down a career-best 13 boards against the Thundering Herd while Gosselin had a career-high 14 rebounds at Ohio State.

WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

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