Catawba Men Beat Livingstone

BY HORACE BILLINGS
SALISBURY POST

Catawba used sparkling shooting, including 12 3-point goals, to take a free-scoring 97-81 victory over Livingstone in the Indians’ opening basketball game at Goodman Gymnasium on Monday night.

The Indians, the defending South Atlantic Conference champions, made 50.7 percent of their field goal attempts, sinking 36 of 71, and canned 12 of 26 from 3-point range.

And Coach Jim Baker's crew needed that kind of shooting to hold off the Bears. Livingstone's young crew fell behind on several occasions but rallied at times to close the gap. The Bears couldn't muster the punch to catch up after falling 25 points behind at 74-49 in the second half, but they did narrow the gap to 14 in the late stages of the game.

It was Catawba's 22nd straight homecourt victory, and it was the Tribe's 10th win over the Bears in their short rivalry.

Guard Marvin Moore provided the big scoring punch for the Indians. He fired in 28 points on 8-for-18 from the field, including 6-for-12 from 3-point territory and 6-for-8 at the foul line. He got 17 points in the second half.

Forwards Davor Krusevljanin and Kelvin Pannell together collected 33 points. Krusevljanin had 18 before fouling out. He made 8-for-13 from the field and hit two 3-pointers. Pannell hit 7-for-12 from the floor and made one 3-pointer.

Rodney Gidney, Livingstone's 6-6 230-pound center, took scoring honors with 30. He muscled his way under the basket for 11-for-23 shooting and added 8-for-12 at the foul line.

Calvin Vaught had 16 for the Bears. Derrick Wyche and Glynn Hubbard contributed 13 apiece.

Pannell led Catawba in rebounding with 10. Gidney led the Bears with 11.

''I was real pleased with our effort,'' Baker said. ''We made some mistakes but I think we have a chance to be a pretty good basketball team. We made some nice plays, and we shot well. We also made some 3-pointers.''

The Indians were pretty good last season, winning 25 and losing only six in winning both the SAC regular-season and tournament titles. They also took part in the NCAA Division II national playoffs.

''I think we are more athletic than we were last year and we are quicker,'' added Baker.

Baker was impressed by his team's impressive performance at the start of the second half.

The Indians held a 44-32 edge at halftime, but they bolted to a 22-point lead at 59-37 after four minutes had elapsed in the second half. Krusevljanin hit two 3-pointers and Moore added one in the surge.

The Indians went on to open up their biggest lead at 74-49 with 10:41 left in the game.

Catawba capitalized on Livingstone turnovers at the start to grab a 9-0 lead with Krusevljanin hitting six points and Moore firing in a 3-pointer.

Gidney scored nine of the first 11 points for the Bears. He led an 8-0 spurt that pulled the Bears within 13-11 after 7:33 of action.

The Indians held a 20-16 lead when they went on a 15-4 roll to open up a 35-20 advantage.

Livingstone then outscored the Indians 8-0 to close the edge to 35-28 in a game that featured short rallies by both teams.

Catawba went on to take a 44-32 lead at halftime.

The Indians got off to a fast start in the second half. Krusevljanin ignited the rally with a 3-pointer. The Indians outscored the Bears by 12-3 in the surge that netted a 21-point lead at 56-35.

''I was pleased with some part of our game along the way,'' said Coach Charles McCullough of the Bears. ''We were having trouble holding onto the basketball at the start and late in the first half, and that's when Catawba got the margin on us.''

Livingstone committed six turnovers in the opening minutes and had 17 miscues at halftime. The Bears were charged with 22 errors for the game. Catawba had 17 turnovers.

Livingstone shot well, hitting 46.3 percent (31-for-67), but the Bears were outscored from 3-point range by 36-6 and that was the big difference. They went 2-for-10 from 3-point range. The teams broke even at rebounding with 39 apiece.

Catawba swings back into action Wednesday night, facing a tall Shaw University squad at Goodman Gym at 7 o'clock. Livingstone, now 1-2, goes to St. Paul's on Saturday night.