College basketball: Carson-Newman 73, Catawba 69

Justin Huntley dribbles downfloor for Catawba. Photo by Ryan Bisesi/Salisbury Post

Buy a print

By David Shaw

dshaw@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — The Catawba men’s basketball team is getting pretty good at breaking hearts — especially its own.

Saturday’s 73-69 loss to visiting Carson-Newman was its fifth this season by four points or less, an indication of just how close the Indians are to contending in the South Atlantic Conference.

“It’s a fine line,” coach Jim Baker said after Catawba (5-13, 2-8) rallied from a 21-point first-half deficit. “We’re used to winning championships and being in the hunt, and we’re right there. We’re just not making it over that line.”

The setback left Catawba winless in the five conference games its played at Goodman Gym. This marked Carson-Newman’s first win in Salisbury since January, 2002.

“They’ve owned us in this building,” winning coach Chuck Benson said after the Eagles (12-8, 5-5) earned their third victory in four games. “We’ve struggled here, but so have a lot of other teams.”

No one struggled more than Catawba in the first half. The Indians shot only 24 percent from the field and watched C-N knock down seven 3-pointers. Couple that with 16-for-28 shooting and a sizable rebounding edge and it wasn’t surprising the guests led 42-25 at halftime.

“We were missing assignments, leaving their best shooters open for shots,” Catawba sophomore Keon Moore said after contributing 25 points and nine rebounds. “We came in at halftime all flushed out. We knew we could play better.”

Carson-Newman did a solid job defending 6-foot-8 freshman Tyrece Little in the opening 20 minutes. Three days after carving up Mars Hill for 25 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots, he missed all five of his first-half shots and was a non-factor at both ends of the floor.

“We scouted that game and were very concerned about facing (Little) today,” said Benson, a longtime C-N assistant now in his second year as head coach. “I think he’s already the best offensive rebounder and best shot-blocker in the league.”

Little was well-guarded by 6-7 freshman Corbin Jackson, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. “It wasn’t really what he was doing,” Little said. “It was me not finishing my shots. That (2-3) zone they played rattled you. It was awkward, somewhere between a man and a zone. You just had to play your way through it.”

Catawba emerged from its dressing room with its resolve stiffened. Senior Justin Huntley launched the Indians’ comeback with three unanswered baskets, including a crowd-pleasing slam that sent a clear message.

“We knew they were gonna come out with more fire in the second half,” said C-N’s Ishmael Sanders. “We just had to stay focused on the game plan.”

Things started getting fuzzy midway through the second half when Little — 0-for-7 from the field beforehand — made his first bucket, a muscular-looking layup that drew Catawaba within 53-43. Moore’s 3-ball from the left side made it a nine-point game moments later, before junior Stuart Thomson turned a feed from first-year guard Conor Strickland into a reverse dunk, trimming Carson-Newman’s lead to 63-56 with 4:46 to play.

“Conor has amazing court vision,” said Thomson, the 6-5 Englishman who shot 7-for-8 from the floor and netted 15 points. “As soon as he looks at me I know I’ve got to keep my wits. Anything can happen and every point counts.”

The waning moments provided some edge-of-your-seat drama. Little’s three-point play and Thomson’s 3-pointer from the right side sliced Catawba’s deficit to 65-62. And when Little flushed down an industial-strength jam with 12 seconds remaining, the Indians had inched within 71-69.

“We were right there,” Moore shrugged while dealing with a post-game ice pack on his right knee. “It’s a different story every game. Tonight we dug ourselves a 20-point hole and couldn’t climb out.”

This story was concluded when Sanders converted both ends of a one-and-one to close the scoring with 9.4 seconds on the clock.

“I practice free throws like I shoot them in the game,” he said after nailing four three-pointers and topping C-N with 21 points. “ I go to the line with confidence.”

For Catawba it was the kind of the loss that could shake the team’s self-assurance, but probably won’t.

“It’s disheartening when you work that hard and it slips away at the very end,” Thomson said. “We’ve just got to keep clawing away. It’s going to fall our way eventually.”

•

NOTES: Little finished 3-for-10 from the field and scored 12 points. He blocked three shots, boosting his season total to 65, just 14 shy of the school record. ... Moore entered the game as the SAC’s second-leading scorer. ... Nine of Catawba’s 13 losses have been by single digits.

CARSON-NEWMAN (73) — Sanders 21, Davis 14, Jackson 13, Pope 7, Johnson 6, Crane 5, Leatherwood 4, Perez 3.

CATAWBA (69) — Moore 25, Thomson 15, Huntley 12, Little 12, Gilmore 5, Martin, Lovelace, Drakeford, Strickland.

C-N 42 31 — 73

Catawba 25 44 — 69