The Indians trailed the Lions by 36-31 at halftime when Gusic, a 6-6 junior, staged a dazzling shooting exhibition from long range that carried the Indians to their second straight victory.

Gusic, who had only three points at intermission, filled the basket with 23 in the last half and finished with a career-high 26.

He fired in six of 13 from the floor, including five of nine from the 3-point area, and added nine of 14 from the free throw line.

All of his 3-pointers came in the last half when the Indians clawed from behind to improve to 4-7 in the SACchase and 10-14 for the season.

The loss left the Mountain Lions with an 0-19 overall record and an 0-11 mark in the conference.

Davor Krusevljanin dropped in a field goal and Gusic hit a free throw to give the Indians a 42-40 lead for the first time in the second half.

Then Gusic went on his long-range shooting spree. He fired in five 3-pointers within a 5:01 span to give the Indians a 59-53 advantage with 8:31 left in the game.

Mars Hill gave the Indians a battle right down to the wire. The Lions closed the gap to 63-61 on a field goal by Donielle Davis with 4:42 left to play.

Gusic hit a free throw and Terrence Hamilton dropped in a field goal to shove the Indians ahead by 66-61 with 90 seconds left.

B. J. Robertson, Gusic and Tony Davenport sank six free throws during the rest of the game for the winning margin.

Hamilton sparked the Indians to an 8-4 lead and later Robertson drilled in a 3-pointer for an 11-6 advantage.

A field goal by Jacob Parks put the Indians ahead by 19-12. Two free throws by Quentin Bryant and a goal by Tony Davenport made it 23-15 with 8:10 left in the half.

The Lions then went on a 13-2 surge to take 28-25 lead with four minutes remaining in the opening half.

Mars Hill held a 36-31 margin at intermission.

Facing a 40-38 deficit after four minutes of the second half, the Indians, sparked by Gusic, went on their winning way.

A free throw by Davenport and a goal by Krusevljanin gave the Indians the lead for the first time in the half at 41-40. Gusic added a free throw and it was 42-40 when he started bombing the nets from long range.

His first 3-pointer gave the Indians a 45-40 lead. He hit another for a 48-43 cushion.

A minute later, he ripped the nets for his third 3-pointer and it was 51-45 in favor of the Indians.

Two more 3-pointers by Gusic kept the Indians out front by six, 59-53.

Mars Hill cut the margin to 63-61 with time running out. A free throw by Gusic and a goal by Hamilton eased the Indians ahead by 66-61. Free throws in the final 90 seconds wrapped up the victory.

“Gusic was on fire,” said Coach Jim Baker of the Indians. “He put on a great shooting show. He is capable of doing that. He is a good shooter. His outside shooting forced Mars Hill out of the zone defense which had given us trouble and opened up the inside. We then went inside for points.”

Baker said the Tribe’s games this week showed how tough the South Atlantic Conference is.

The Indians defeated first-place Presbyterian by 61-58 on Wednesday. They managed a 17-point lead in the second half in that win.

Mars Hill, which rests in last place, gave the Indians a fight down to the wire. The Lions led in the second half before losing.

“It was a little scary in the first half,” said Baker. ‘We could not get our shots to fall. We missed a lot of easy shots and they were hitting their shots.” Mars Hill made 58.3 percent (14 of 24) in the first half. Catawba hit 11 of 31 during that period.

“We got our shots to fall in the second half and our defense was super,”Baker explained.

The Indians hit 46.2 in the second half after hitting 35.5 in the first half.

“We played hard and I’m proud of the team,”Baker added. “We were coming off a big win over Presbyterian and we knew that they would be shooting for us.”

The Indians go to Gardner-Webb Wednesday for one of their five remaining games.

MARSHILL (64) — Williams 10, Mlatac 5, Stoney 8, Clark 5, Davis 16, Gissing 9, Delgado 10, Rayson 1.

CATAWBA (72) — Gusic 26, Hamilton 9, Krusjevljanin 14, Davemport 9, Robertson 8, Bryant 2, Parks 2, Carter 2, Bryan, Whitehead.

Mars Hill 36 28 — 64