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Jake Cohen jams early in the 1st half on his way to passing the career 1000-point mark (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

It was the Jake Cohen Show at Belk Arena Thursday night as Davidson’s junior forward scored 26 points to lead the Wildcats to an easy 88-67 victory over Western Carolina. Cohen’s was a perfect 4-for-4 on three-pointers in a performance that took him past the 1,000-point mark, to 1,013 for his career.

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Chris Czerapowicz leaps to defend a shot by the Catamounts' Brandon Boggs (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Thursday night’s game wasn’t quite the contest it might have been, given that the two teams are leading their divisions in the Southern Conference. But there was plenty of entertainment. Making key supporting appearances on the Cohen show were Chris Czerapowicz (13 points), JP Kuhlman (12 points and 5 assists) and Clint Mann (11 points).

The win lifted the Wildcats to 11-4 overall kept them unbeaten at 5-0 in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina fell to 8-9 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

It was Cohen’s second big night in as many games. Against Georgia Southern last Saturday, he led the scoring with 29 points.

On Thursday, Cohen took the spotlight from the opening tip, scoring the Wildcats’ first 13 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone. It was a three-pointer with just under 4 minutes gone that put him over the mark. Eighteen of his points came in the first half, and he ended the game 8-13 from the field and 6-7 from the foul line. He also had 6 rebounds, 4 blocks.

Teammate Kuhlman said the team was playing off Cohen’s hot hand at the start and feeding him as he approached 1,000 mark. Cohen was glad for the quick start. “I just wanted to get it out of the way early,” he said

Thanks to Cohen’s big first half, the Wildcats took a 49-37 lead into the locker room. The lead has been as much as 15 with about six minutes left, until the Catamounts went on a 15-7 run to cut the margin to six points with 1:48 left. Key baskets by James Sinclair and Harouna Mutumbo keyed the comeback.

Then Davidson switched to a 1-3-1 defense, and forced a couple of critical turnovers that turned into baskets. That pushed the lead back to double digits at halftime.

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Jake Cohen passes the ball. He also passed the 1,000 point mark for his career in the first half. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Cochran hit a couple of foul shots and a three-pointer in the first minute and a half of the second half to push the Wildcats’ lead to 14. Then his teammates went to work. Scores by Mann, Brooks and Czerapowicz helped and near perfect foul-shooting by Nik Cochran (8 points, on 8 out of 9 from the foul line) helped the Cats pull away.

A three pointer by Czerapowicz with 7:26 left in the game gave Davidson its biggest lead, 27 points, 79-52, and the Wildcats never let up.

“I’m very pleased to have a performance where we started well and finished strong in the first half and started well and finished strong in the second half,” Coach Bob McKillop said afterward.

He praised Cohen’s performance, saying it was “pretty extraordinary” that he scored the team’s first 13 points. “Jake Cohen has been sensational since Christmas. He’s making his shots and staying on the court,” McKillop said.

For Western Carolina, Mutombo ended with 17 points, and Brandon Boggs had 13 points.

APP STATE UP NEXT

Davidson is back on the road Saturday, traveling to Appalachian State for a 2 p.m. game. They’re back at Belk Arena on Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. against Charleston.

GAME NOTES: Thursday’s 12-point showing left junior JP Kulhman just three points shy of 1,000 points for his career. He should hit that Saturday. Although he claimed that he and Cohen “aren’t focused on” their scoring totals, he did say, “I think the fact that we’re going to reach this milestone so close together is really special.” … Thursday was Davidson’s only game in the regular season against Western Carolina. … Davidson has now won 13 of its last 14 regular season Southern Conference games.

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Clint Mann (40) battles Western Carolina's Tawaski King. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

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