CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Furman could not win on J.P. Pegues alone.

That’s a bit unfair. Pegues scored a career-best 35 points on Wednesday night in Western Carolina’s 85-77 victory over the Paladins, which raised the Catamounts into a fourth-place tie with Furman and a likelihood that the teams will meet again in their first game in the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, N.C., a week from Saturday.

He was not alone in effort. He was almost alone in offensive effectiveness.

The junior from Nashville, Tenn., became the 52^nd Furman men’s basketball player to reach 1,000 points in his career. His final point, a free throw, gave him 1,001.

Western Carolina (21-9, 10-7 SoCon) used a 30-9 run to overcome a nine-point second-half deficit over Furman (16-14, 10-7) at Ramsey Center in front of a crowd of 3,159.

“I didn’t think we were awful,” Furman head coach said to Dan Scott and Tom Van Hoy on postgame radio. “I don’t think we had the best start. You could feel that.”

In the second half, we have one bad shot and a turnover, and they ‘transition’ us twice,’ Richey said, “I feel like that sparked them, and it got the crowd back in it.

“From then on, we had a little bit of a ‘deer in the headlights’ look.”

Trailing 57-48 with under 12 minutes to play, Russell Jones and Bernard Pelote ignited a 30-9 spurt that gave the Catamounts a 78-66 lead on D.J. Campbell’s triple with 2:09 remaining. The pair each netted eight points during the run as Western Carolina shot .600 in the second half to score 55 points after the break.

Pegues wasn’t alone in playing hard, but his shooting was an oasis in the midst of a desert. He connected on 10/22 shots (6/13 for three) and all nine free-throw attempts. He also had five assists, a steal and a blocked shot … and only two 11 turnovers.

The rest of the team combined was 15/42 (.357) overall, 5/22 (.227) from deep and 7/11 (.636) from the line.

“J.P. was a complete warrior,” Richey said. “I’m really proud of how he competed and how he plays. He shoulders a lot of responsibility. Not a great shooting night for us other than him.”

What made it doubly catastrophic was the contrast with the Catamounts’ shooting: 30/55 (.545) combined, 8/19 (.421) triples and 17/23 (.739) free throws. Russell Jones Jr. led WCU with 20 points, Vonterius Woolbright added 15, D.J. Campbell scored 12, Bernard Pelote 11 (3/5 triples) and Tre Jackson 10.

Woolbright, the SoCon scoring and rebounding leader, handed out 11 assists and snagged 10 rebounds for a “triple double,” his fourth of the season.

Neither team scored until Hien’s breakthrough layup with 18:21 remaining in the first half. Woolbright answered shortly with a three-point play 22 seconds later.

After 10 minutes, Western Carolina led, 20-11. The Paladins, who committed three turnovers in the entire Wofford game four days earlier, had four in slightly over 11 minutes.

Bowser got his usual slam at 2:59 (and wound up with six points), drawing Furman within four (29-25). Pegues’ triple at 2:14 narrowed the margin to one and led Western head coach Justin Gray to call a timeout.

The Paladins came back to lead, 32-30, at halftime. Furman and Western Carolina combined to connect on 4/21 first-half three-pointers, with the Paladins 2/13. Furman had six offensive rebounds to WCU’s two and led overall, 19-17, on the glass.

Furman closed the first half on an 11-1 run and opened the second half by making its first five shots to extend the lead to 57-48 before the unfortunate final scenes.

Ben Vander Wal tallied 10 points to join Pegues in double figures.

The Catamounts outscored Furman 36-20 in the paint and managed a 35-33 rebounding edge.

The regular season concludes on Saturday when Furman hosts Mercer at 2 p.m. in the final game at Timmons Arena before its extensive renovation.

“It’s like I just told the team,” Richey said. “We’re out of mulligans.”

Entering the final game, Samford Furman and Western Carolina are tied for fourth, a game ahead of Wofford, which stunned Samford, 91-69, in Spartanburg.

Take a look at the stats here.

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