LEXINGTON, Va. -- James Sinclair scored a career high 28 points on 11 of 21 shooting from the field and added nine rebounds and four steals to lead Western Carolina to an 85-70 victory over VMI on Thursday night.

Mike Brown also finished with a career high, scoring 21 points for Western Carolina (11-12, 6-5 Southern Conference), which finished the game on a 15-2 run, turning what was a two point game into a rout.

The Catamounts led with their defense, holding VMI to 33.8 percent shooting from the field including 12 of 47 from 3-point range. Western Carolina also dominated the glass, grabbing 57 total rebounds while maintaining a plus-28 advantage.

Tim Marshall scored 15 points off the bench to lead VMI (8-14, 4-7). Julian Eleby added 12 points and five boards.

This was the first meeting between the two squads since 2003.