Indians Trim Bears With Late Surge

By HORACE BILLINGS
SALISBURY POST

Catawba's Indians opened their South Atlantic Conference basketball schedule with a 63-57 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne's Bears at Goodman Gymnasium Wednesday night.

And it took a 10-0 surge by the Redskins in the fading minutes to turn the trick after leading virtually all the way.

They wasted away an eight-point lead and trailed by two, 55-53, with 4:38 remaining. Then the Indians staged the game-winning rally, combining a clocking offensive spurt with an impressive defense stand.

The Indians soared ahead by 63-55 advantage while holding the Bears scoreless during a 4:34 span. The Bears got their final two points in the last four seconds.

"When it looked like we were going to lose, we went to a higher level of play," explained Coach Jim Baker of Catawba.

Kelvin Pannell, Nedzad Gusic and Tony Davenport provided the spark.

Pannell dropped in a layup to tie the score at 55-55 and was fouled on the play. He missed the free throw but Gusic grabbed the rebound. He backed into the corner and fired in what a key goal - 3-pointer - that gave the Indians a 58-55 advantage with 2:21 to play.

Davenport snared a rebound with 1:54 left and Catawba ran the clock down to 1:22 before losing the basketball.

Gusic rebounded a Lenoir-Rhyne miss, and Davenport hit a short jumper to put the Indians ahead by 60-55 with 38 seconds to go.

Lenoir-Rhyne turned over the basketball and Davenport hit a free throw with 24 seconds remaining.

Pannell dropped in two free throws for the Indians with nine seconds to play. Daniel Willis broke

Lenoir-Rhyne's cold spell with a layup with four seconds showing.

"We are glad to get this one," said Baker. "I was disappointed at times, but I have to give our guys credit. I thought we made good decisions going down the stretch. We earned the win in the last two minutes. Lenoir-Rhyne had struggled thus far and we might have taken them lightly. They were well prepared for the game and played well. We were fortunate to win."

It was the eighth win against two losses for the Indians, who now will be idle until Wednesday when they entertain Allen University in their final pre-Christmas game.

The loss was the seventh straight for the winless Bears.

Marvin Moore, who twice has been named the SAC player of the week in the young season, led the Indians with 15 points before fouling out with 5:20 to play.

Gusic followed with 13, and Pannell added 10, all coming in the final half.

Brendan Murphy topped the scoring for L-R with 18. Scott Fortune added 10.

It was a close battle virtually all the way. No more than nine points separated the teams.

Catawba, however, trailed only three times. They lagged behind at 6-2 in the opening minutes but Moore and Gusic sparked the Indians to a 9-6 advantage.

Catawba fell behind 17-14 for the last time in the first half, but five points by Moore put the Redskins ahead by 19-17. They managed a 32-25 lead at halftime.

Pannell gave the Indians a nine-point, 34-25, cushion in the opening seconds of the second half, and they managed to stay ahead except for one occasion in the last half. That came when a 3-pointer by Fortune gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 55-53 advantage with 4:38 left to play. That was to be the last L-R field goal until Willis dropped in an uncontested layup with four seconds showing.

Catawba held a 22-19 edge in field goals - and that was the difference in the game. Each team had six 3-pointers and each made 13 free throws.

The Indians made 43.1 percent (22-for-51), and Lenoir-Rhyne hit 36.5 (19-for-52) from the field.