College basketball: Catawba 70, Lincoln Memorial 60

Rob Fields is surrounded by Lincoln Memorial players as he gets off a shot. Photo by Ronnie Gallagher, Salisbury post

By Mike London

mlondon@salisburypost.com

HICKORY — Tenacity keyed Catawba's 70-60 win against Lincoln Memorial in a SAC tournament semifinal played at Catawba Valley Community College.

Saturday's game was closer than it sounds — still a rugged dogfight with two minutes left.

Catawba senior Donald Rutherford produced two immense plays. His boxout on a missed free throw created the fifth foul on Lincoln Memorial superstar D'Mario Curry, and his recovery of a loose ball that touched a dozen hands led to a Donzell Williams layup on the game's pivotal possession.

Statistically, Lincoln Memorial is the SAC's best rebounding team and one of the nation's best defensive squads. The Railsplitters limited top-seeded Catawba (20-9) to 34.7-percent shooting, but the Indians compensated by controlling the glass 52-41 and doubling LMU 20-10 on offensive boards.

"Hold Catawba to 70 and you've got a good chance to win," Lincoln Memorial coach Josh Schertz said. "But the mark of a championship team is to find a way. They weren't making shots, so they got 20 offensive rebounds. They out-hustled us. They manhandled us."

Williams, a 6-foot-3 senior, scrapped for 11 rebounds, freshman Lee Martin had eight, and every Indian pitched in. Guard Rob Fields slithered inside for one of the few tip-ins of his great career. Antonio Houston, who led Catawba with 18 points, fought for his first nine in the paint.

"Rebounding — you just have to go," Fields said. "You can't stand around and get rebounds."

Catawba did stand around at the start. Fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial jumped on top 12-2.

"We haven't been down like that in a while, so I didn't know how we'd respond," Catawba coach Jim Baker said.Catawba responded by tying the game at 22-22 on a free throw by Houston and roaring out to a 39-35 halftime lead.

"We fought back and fought back fast," Fields said.

Foul trouble hindered Lincoln Memorial in the second half. Curry (22 points) got his third foul trying to block a shot by Rutherford barely a minute into the second half.

With 14:23 left to play, Martin drew Curry's fourth foul on a baseline charge. LM's other standout, Desmond Johnson (19 points, 11 rebounds), was tagged with his fourth personal a minute after Curry's.Adding to the Railsplitters' troubles, Houston suddenly got hot. He buried two 3s for a 55-43 lead — biggest of the day — with 9:34 remaining.

"It took me a little while to get going today," Houston said. "But then I hit those two 3s in a row. The first one felt good leaving my hand, so I let another one go."

Curry and Johnson, both playing with four fouls, wouldn't let the Railsplitters fold. Catawba was going to Rutherford on every possession, trying to pick up Curry's fifth, but he stayed on the floor.

With 4:39 left and the Indians clinging to a 59-56 lead, Johnson missed a free throw and Rutherford's boxout caught Curry on his back. The 6-7 Curry was through, and much of LMU's defensive intimidation and athleticism exited with him.

"I'd just told the ref to watch him, and I boxed him out hard," Rutherford said.

With Curry sitting, Johnson, last season's SAC Freshman of the Year, put the Railsplitters on his back.

Catawba's lead was 61-60 with 2:07 left when Fields missed a contested jumper, and a wild scramble ensued for the game's biggest rebound. Rutherford finally seized it and whipped a pass to Williams underneath.

"All I'm thinking is, 'That n ball is mine,' " Rutherford said. "Then I saw Donzell, and he finished."

Schertz was certain that loose ball told the tale.

"That was a 50-50 ball, but Catawba looked at it like it was a 100-0 ball," he said. "Sure, we tried to get it, but they were going to get it."

Williams yanked down a big defensive board for the Indians with 1:40 left. Then Catawba ran off 29 seconds before Houston drove, drew multiple defenders and dished to Stephen Coles for a layup.

After Martin boarded a missed 3-pointer, Fields stuck a hanging jumper with 28 seconds left for a 67-60 lead. That was the backbreaker.

Catawba is sure to be in the regional. It didn't have to win this one, but it still won against a talented team that's on the bubble.

"Our rebounding was something," Baker said. "We were a little bit possessed."

Williams agreed.

"We lost to them at their place because we didn't shoot well and we got no second chances," he said. "Today we got some second chances."

And third ones.

Catawba will play Brevard today at 2 p.m. at CVCC for the championship.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL (60) — Curry 22, Johnson 19, Jones 8, Armstrong 7, Carden 2, O'Brien 2, Miller, Stanley, Vil, Erland, Craig, Martin.

CATAWBA (70) — Houston 18, Fields 13, Rutherford 13, Reid 10, Coles 8, Martin 4, Williams 4, Thomson, Huntley, Lovelace.

Linc. Memorial 35 25 — 60

Catawba 39 31 — 70