From staff reports

WINGATE — An impressive comeback by Catawba’s men fell short as they dropped a 90-81 decision to Wingate’s Bulldogs in a South AtlanticConference game Monday .

The Indians (6-7, 1-1) fell 18 points behind in the first half, but they rallied in the last half to cut the margin to two points on three occasions.

Trailing 49-33 at halftime, the Indians stormed back to reduce the deficit to 73-71 with 5:02 left to play.

The Indians got with two again at 75-73 with 4:40 to go and the final time at 78-76 with 2:49 remaining.

Sean Barnette made key points for the Bulldogs (9-4, 2-1) down the stretch to clinch the win.

CATAWBA (81) — Houston 12, Wooldridge 29, Brinkley 2, Graves 10, Murphy 6, Sossamon, Williams, Fields 7, Rose 2, Diggs 5, Monroe 6, Butler, Magnusson 2.

WINGATE (90) — Barnette 24, Villines 9, Grier 13, Smith 14, Baker 13, Kirkland 9, Holmes, Coles, Wenger 4, Carlisle 4.

Catawba 33 48 — 81

Wingate 49 41 — 90

* Catawba women

WINGATE — Catawba’s women saw a comeback fall short as they dropped a 75-69 decision to Wingate Monday.

The Indians (11-3, 1-1) trailed by 16 points on two occasions but rallied to cut the margin to three points at 72-69 with 1:10 left to play.

Ne’Keitha Howard, who 8-for-13 from the floor, sparked Catawba with 19 points. Tamekia Foster followed with 15.

The Indians return home to face Tusculum. Wednesday at Goodman Gym.

CATAWBA (69) — Foster 15, Higgins 9, Howard 19, Colombo 4, Hampton 3, Clark 8, Baxter 7, Whitley, Muldrow 2, LoSauro, Easter 2, Bartlett.

WINGATE (75 — Nagy 4, Metzker 6, Paffrath 14, Barrett 23, Atkinson 4, Mincey, Byer 2, Tucker 8, Gillis 5, Rosser, Edwards 6, Payne 3.

Catawba 30 39 — 69

Wingate 43 32 — 75

* Grier honored

Pfeiffer University senior guard DeMario Grier has been named National Player of the Month by the Division II Bulletin, a national publication for small colleges.

Grier averaged 29.6 points per game for the month in leading Pfeiffer to an 8-0 start. He had 36 points in a win over Glenville State and is currently third in the country in scoring at 28 ppg.

* Pfeiffer men fall

WILSON — Barton’s men defeated Pfeiffer 122-97 in CVAC basketball action Monday night.

DeMario Grier had 27 points and Tavares Cooper added 25 to lead the Falcons. Pfeiffer fell to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in the CVAC.

Barton improves to 7-4 overall and 5-0 in the conference.

* Catawba tennis

Catawba College tennis coach Jeff Childress has announced signings in men’s and women’s tennis.

Joining the Tribe men are Fernando Auguiar and Hector Bousoulas. Auguiar is from Rio de Janiero, Brazil, while Bousoulas hails from Athens, Greece.

The Catawba women received commitments from Kasia Zielinski, of Erie, Pa., Kendra Joyner of Rock Springs, Wyo, and Hope Bennett, of Spencer.

The Catawba men and women play their first match on February 3rd.

* East wrestling

CHARLOTTE — The East Rowan wrestling team had a good showing over the weekend, finishing second in a 32-team dual tournament at Hopewell.

East beat Independence 73-3, North Gaston 43-28, Anson County 60-20 and R.S. Central 69-12 before losing in the finals to Durham Riverside, the state’s second-ranked 4A team, 44-24.

Josh Patch went undefeated and is 17-1 overall. Mustangs with only one loss were Coleton Boone (25-7), C.J. Gordy (18-4), Josh Greer (13-10), Kong Lor (14-4), Thomas Lowe (19-11), Aaron Plyler (27-6), Donovan Smoot (12-13) and Seth Stephenson (19-10).

East (17-2, 2-0, CPC) wrestles at West Forsyth on Thursday.

* Bad Boys wrestling

The Bad Boys Youth Wrestling Club from Corriher-Lipe and Kannapolis Middle Schools coached by Bo Beeker and Tony McKinney wrestled in Greenville S.C., last weekend.

Winning gold medals were Cody Simpson, Lynn Gutierrez and Zach McMullin. Aaron Deason, Marcus Freeman, David Hood and Leo Pope won silver. Taking bronze were Javin Bugett, Shane Harris, and Joshua Allman.

* North Hills hoops

The North Hills varsity girls team lost to Woodland 48-12. The leading scorers for the Eagles were Catherine Ardoin and Johanna Tansey with two points.

The North Hills varsity boys lost to Woodland 70-38. The leading scorer was Josh Richardson with 12 points.

The North Hills elementary team was defeated by Hickory Day 20-17, evening its record at 1-1. Conor Honeycutt led the Eagles in scoring with seven points.

* North Hills hoops

The Salisbury Parks and Recreation Department is taking registration at Hall Gym for its girls Jr. Sting (ages 7-15) and Jr. Bobcat (ages 5-6) programs through Friday, Jan. 12.

The cost is $30 for city residents and $60 for non-residents. All participants need to bring a birth certificate.

For more information, call 704-638-5289.

* Pfeiffer women

WILSON — Raven Truslow scored 28 points and pulled down 13 rebounds but it wasn’t enough as Pfeiffer fell to Barton, 94-100 Monday night.

* Erwin splits

Erwin Middle School’s eighth-grade girls defeated South Davie 44-26 in a nonconference basketball game at Erwin on Monday.

Erwin (7-4) was led by Taylor Honeycutt with 12 points and eight steals. Olivia Sabo scored 11. Mallory Drew and Kristen Hatley added seven and six points.

South Davie’s boys, led by Shannon Dillard’s 12 points, topped Erwin 50-22.

Erwin (1-10) was led by Jamey Blalock’s seven points and eight rebounds. Will Sapp had seven steals.

* South swimming

South Rowan’s boys swim team won over North Davidson on Jan. 5 at the South YMCA.

Individual winners were Josh Goodnight in the 100 butterfly, Cody Buchanan in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke, and Tyler Hoke in the 500 freestyle. South’s medley relay and 400 free relay teams also won.

North’s girls edged South. Winning for the Raiders was Amy Hinshaw in the 100 butterfly.

* C-Lipe wrestling

The Corriher-Lipe Middle School wrestlers beat North Rowan 54-39 Monday.

Winners for C-L were Josh Allman, Leo Pope, Zach McMullin, Michael York, Cody Simpson, Cody Moon, Marcus Freeman, Jacob Helms, and Scotty Magnuson.