That’s the way coach Jim Baker of Catawba College described the performance of his Indians in their 89-75 basketball win over Newberry in the South Atlantic Conference at Goodman Gym Saturday.

“We played well together and we took good shots,” Baker explained. “We also had a solid defensive game.”

The Indians, who had lost eight of their past 10 contests, made 13 of their first 18 field goal attempts and opened up a 28-20 lead. Newberry later went on an 11-0 roll to pull ahead by 33-31.

Davor Krusevljanin and Terrence Hamilton led the Indians on a surge that gave them a 43-37 cushion at halftime.

Catawba gradually pulled away in the last half. The Indians led by 66-51 with slightly more than eight minutes left to play. The Indians stayed in command for the rest of the game, in part because of great shooting. The Indians turned in one of their best shooting nights of the season, hitting 56 percent (34-for-60), while the 89 points scored was the best of the year.

Hamilton was the big gun for the Indians, firing in 15 points in each half and finishing with a career high of 30.

“We got the ball inside to Hamilton and he had a great game,”said Baker. Hamilton was 13-for-17 from the floor and 4-for-7 at the foul line.

Krusevljanin, who missed a recent game with a kidney injury, showed his old form with 21 points and eight rebounds. Tony Davenport followed with 17 points.

Brandon Hughes, considered the top candidate for SACPlayer of the Year honors, led Newberry with 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Nedzad Gusic got the Indians rolling in the last half with a 3-pointer, and Hamilton and Krusevljanin added goals. Davenport scored to give the Indians a 60-49 lead.

Davenport sank two goals and Quentin Bryant and Brian Carter had one each as the Redskins rallied to take a 70-53 lead.

Newberry charged back behind Hughes to cut the deficit to 80-70 with a couple of minutes left but could not muster the punch to catch up.

“I am proud of the way our kids responded to the challenge”said Baker. “We played smart basketball and didn’t throw the ball away.” The Indians had only eight turnovers.

“We hope to continue to play this way in the rest of our games,”added Baker.

Forward Jacob Parks, who suffered a fractured nose in a game with Gardner-Webb, returned to action but did not score.

The Indians go to Hickory Wednesday to face old rival Lenoir-Rhyne and wind up their regular season here next Saturday against Carson-Newman.

NEWBERRY (75) — Stackhouse 4, Chandler 4, Hughes 30, Garrett 7, Davis 14, Nance 9, Knauff 4, Horne, Regenovich 3.

CATAWBA (89) — Gusic 4, Hamilton 30, Krusevljanin 21, Davenport 17, Robertson 2, Bryant 2, Carter 8, Bryan 3, Parks, Whitehead, Cotigny, Halton 2, Montanaro, Parker.

Newberry 37 38 — 75