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Catawba College’s Nedzad Gusic was glad to be voted Most Valuable Player, but just as excited that his team is off to a 3-0 start.
Gusic, the 6-foot-6 senior guard from Croatia, shook off a slow start and scored 21 points as the Indians defeated Francis Marion 72-62 in the championship game of the CF Parks Classic at Goodman Gym on Saturday.
Gusic missed five of his first six shots before finding the range and finishing with a 7-for-16 night with four 3-pointers.
“I was pulling it too fast, I think, in the beginning and I wasn’t patient enough. It was the opening of the game. I should have taken it inside, then worked my way out later. I was able to find my rhythm as the game went on, and I think everybody on my team did the same thing,” said Gusic.
As for the MVP award, he said, “I was kind of shooting for that, because it’s my last tournament (at Catawba), but that’s not really what matters. What matters to me is that we’re 3-0 and that we’re playing good basketball.”
Coach Jim Baker of the Indians was glad to see the senior chosen as MVP.
“He’s playing so much better. He’s playing to win. He’s just playing so hard,” said Baker.
“I’m happy for him. He turned his whole game around. He came into me and said, ‘Coach,I don’t want to have a bad year, what do I do?’ He found a way to get it done.”
Gusic, who also had 10 rebounds and four assists, and 6-9 freshman center Alex Luyk made the all-tournament team along with Francis Marion’s Jon Houston, Shaw’s 6-10 Steve Bynes and Livingstone’s Rodney Gidney.
Bynes scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Shaw (4-2) turned back Livingstone (0-6) by a score of 82-63 in the consolation game. Gidney had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the winless Bears.
Catawba held a 36-29 halftime lead, then surged to a 20-point lead of 51-31 at the 16:34 mark of the second half. Francis Marion, which defeated Livingstone in Friday’s first round, charged back and cut the deficit to five at 57-52 with 5:04 to play.
The Patriots played a tight zone throughout the first half and into the early part of the second half, but coach John Schweitz switched to a man-to-man defense after Catawba threatened to break it open.
“They went man-to-man and it sort of knocked us back on our heels, because they had been playing zone. We got the ball in the paint (12-foot jumper by Brian Carter with 4:17 to play), and they went back to zone,” said Baker.
The Indians went on to outscore Francis Marion 11-3 over a span of less than four minutes to wrap it up.
Neither team had a great shooting night, but Catawba cashed in on its 3-point attempts, going 10-for-32 as compared to 6-for-18 for the Patriots.
Catawba was 27-for-62 (43.5 percent) to the visitors’ 23-for-62 (37.1 percent).
“We executed some stuff offensively, but we just didn’t finish it,” said Francis Marion’s Schweitz.
Baker thought his team’s defensive effort was a factor in the championship game victory plus Friday’s 77-69 win over a tall Shaw team in the first round.
“I’m proud of our defense. The last two nights we held Shaw to 24 points in the first half and held this bunch to 60-some,” said Baker. “I think we’ve got a chance to be a good defensive team. We’re so young, I think we’re going to get better and better as the season goes on.”
He thought, when the Patriots switched from the zone to man-to-man in the second half, it gave his team a temporary edge.
“I think maybe with us going zone maybe it made Catawba maybe a little bit complacent on offense and took away a little bit of what I think their strength is, taking the ball to the rim off the dribble and stuff. So maybe we decoyed them a little bit to help out,” he explained.
The Patriots outscored Catawba 21-6 over a spain of 11:30 to pull within five.
“Anytime you’re behind, you always play with a little more anxiety, and that helped us,” said the Francis Marion coach.
Gusic and reserve Brian Carter (12 points) were the only double-figure scorers for the Indians. Carter was the main reason the Indians shot over 40 percent, going 6-for-7, mostly on medium-range jumpers.
Wade Tucker, a senior from Pinehurst, led Francis Marion’s scoring with 14 points, while Judson Ruig came off the bench for 12 points. Houston, who had scored 19 points in the first round, had eight points and six assists in the finals.
Coach Buck Joyner’s Livingstone club stayed close to Shaw throughout the first half, trailing only 31-22 at intermission. The Blue Bears were still within nine of Shaw’s Bears at 37-28 in the second half after a 3-pointer by Moise Nash.
After that, Shaw outscored Livingstone 11-4 to go up 48-32. Livingstone got within nine again briefly at 52-43, then Shaw dominated the final 11 minutes.
Bynes was unstoppable inside against the smaller Blue Bears, going 8-for-10 on field goals. Jermaine Smith and Ronald Murray scored 20 and 19 points, respectively, for Shaw, while Mario Duncan added 12.
Gidney, who fouled out with 5:16 to play, continued to lead Livingstone’s scoring, but the 6-6 senior was helped out by Peter Anders (16), J.C. Henry (13) and Nash (12) — the team’s best scoring balance in six outings.
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NOTES: Catawba hosts West Virginia Tech next Saturday before playing at Johnson C. Smith, Livingstone and Newport News the following week. ... Livingstone is idle until visiting Virginia State on Dec. 12. The Blue Bears host Catawba, then visit Fairmont State in their remaining pre-Christmas contests.
Consolation game
SHAW (82) — Harrell 2, Murray 19, Duncan 12, Bynes 17, Booker 6, Smith 20, Christian 6, Donald.
LIVINGSTONE(63) — Wright 2, Anders 16, Gidney 19, Nash 12, Henry 13, Scarborough 1, Moses, Baker, Fluker.
Shaw 31 51 — 82
Livingstone 22 41 — 63
Championship game
FRANCIS MARION (62) — Bovell 6, Will Tucker 8, Norman 7, Gaither 7, Wade Tucker 14, Houston 8, Ruig 12, Chisholm, Oertelt.
CATAWBA (72) — Hamilton 6, Raikes 7, Luyk 6, Gusic 21, Robertson 8, Hagaman 3, Carter 12, Petty 3, Parks, Jernigan 6, Phipps, Bryant, Parker, Whitehead, Montanaro, Everett.
Francis Marion 29 33 — 62
Catawba 36 36 — 72
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