From staff reports
Lenoir-Rhyne pushed its winning streak to five games with an 83-73 SAC victory against Catawba at Shuford Gym on Saturday night.
D.J. Blackmon, an Albemarle product who began his career at Pfeiffer, led Lenoir-Rhyne (15-9, 10-4) with 19 points. Elliott McDowell had 18 points as did Marcus Hodges, another Pfeiffer transplant.
Hodges shot 7-for-7 from the floor for L-R, which has won 34 of its last 37 home games. The Bears avenged a December loss at Goodman Gym.
The Indians (16-9, 8-6) trailed by 10 points at halftime and by as many as 17 in the second half.
Antonio Houston led the Indians with 20 points, while Rob Fields added 17 points off the bench.
Catawba plays at Carson-Newman on Wednesday.
CATAWBA (73) ó Houston 20, Fields 17, Rutherford 8, Burns 7, Reid 7, Huntley 7, Williams 4, Sossamon 2, Rose 1, Shoemaker.
LENOIR-RHYNE (83) ó Blackmon 19, McDowell 18, Hodges 18, Rudder 10, Crawford 8, Watson 4, Powell 4, Shaw 2, Thomas. Hathcock, Haumann.
Catawba 29 44 ó 73
Lenoir-Rhyne 39 44 ó 83
n Catawba women fall
Brittany Mitch scored 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made a key steal and three-point play as 21st-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne topped visiting Catawba’s women’s basketball team 79-68 on Saturday night.
Mitch keyed a late 21-8 run over the final 2:35. The Bears were 10-for-10 at the foul line down the stretch.
Lenoir-Rhyne (21-3, 11-2) stayed in first place in the SAC race.
The Indians (15-9, 7-6) were led by Dana Hicks, who scored 16 points. Kisha Long had 15.
Catawba was 2-for-11 on 3s.
CATAWBA (68) ó Hicks 16, K. Long 15, Whitley 9, Clark 9, Higgins 6, Sullivan 5, Connor 4, N. Long 4, Crane, Dameron.
LENOIR-RHYNE (79) ó Mitch 21, Holt 19, Moore 14, Safrit 11, Culler 9, Williams 2, Conetta 2, Kremer 1, Fulmer, Webster, Sealey.
Catawba 24 44 ó 68
Lenoir-Rhyne 33 46 ó 79
n Pfeiffer men romp
Pfeiffer’s men’s basketball rolled over St. Andrews 106-66 for a Conference Carolinas win on Saturday at Merner Gym.
The Falcons (15-10, 12-6) topped 100 points for the 12th time.
Pfeiffer shot 53.9 percent from the field.
Chris Woods led the Falcons with 22 points in 21 minutes of play. Robert McGriff dished out seven assists.
n Women’s college hoops
Guilford’s Tracey Croner (East Rowan) scored the 1,000th point of her college career Saturday.
Croner had 13 points and 11 rebounds in a 61-57 victory against Virginia Wesleyan.
Croner is the 14th member of the program to reach 1,000 points. Croner averages 14.2 points and 6.0 rebounds for the Quakers.
n Sophilia Hipps (North Rowan) scored 11 points in South Carolina State’s 75-52 loss against Norfolk State on Saturday.
n Brittany Cornelius (East) had 13 points, eight assists and seven boards as Meredith beat Mary Baldwin 79-70 on Saturday.n Pfeiffer had a 73-30 rebounding edge in a 101-74 Conference Carolinas victory against St. Andrews.
Pfeiffer was paced by Nicole Maready (Davie), who scored 24 points and had nine boards. Devona Knight had 17 points and 24 rebounds.
n College baseball
Catawba’s baseball team swept a doubleheader at Carson-Newman Saturday to open SAC play.
The Indians pounded out 13 hits to win the opener 10-4 and rode strong pitching by Appalachian State transfer Trevor Mullins to a 5-0 win in the nightcap.
Jake Faggart (NW Cabarrus) homered in the opener. Brett Hatley (West Rowan) had two RBIs. Josh Hohn and Craige Lyerly (East Rowan) had three hits each.
Blake Ketner (NW Cabarrus) pitched five strong innings, allowing two runs, to improve to 2-0.
Mullins dominated the Eagles in the nightcap with seven shutout innings. He allowed two hits, walked one and fanned seven.
Catawba goes for a series sweep this afternoon.
n Tusculum and Lenoir-Rhyne swept three-game series, with the Pioneers topping Mars Hill and the Bears beating Lincoln Memorial.
Zach Glass (Salisbury) had a two-run single for the Bears Saturday. Glass is batting .316 with 16 RBIs.
n Pfeiffer and Belmont Abbey split a twin bill Saturday, trading 2-1 decisions.
Ben Beard’s pitching keyed Pfeiffer’s opening-game win.
In the nightcap, Patrick Atwell (South Rowan) led the Crusaders with a 2-for-2 effort and scored a run.
Jonathan McDaniel (Davie) pitched a complete game for the Falcons in the second game and took a tough loss. McDaniel fanned six and walked none.
n Billy Veal (North Rowan) helped Lander sweep Georgia Southwestern Saturday.
Veal pitched the 11th inning of the opener and improved to 3-0 when the Bearcats scored in the bottom of the inning. Veal pitched two scoreless innings in relief in the nightcap.
n Junior second baseman Daniel Wagner (South) was 4-for-4, drove in two runs and scored three as Belmont beat Illinois State 9-7 on Saturday.
n Freshman Justin Roland (East) opened the season as Charlotte’s starting shortstop. He was 1-for-6 as the 49ers fell to Clemson 8-3 and 4-0.
n Sophomore Whit Merrifield (Davie) was 2-for-2 and walked twice as South Carolina opened with a 13-0 victory against Duquesne Saturday.
n Junior Wade Moore (West Rowan) opened the season as the starter in center field for N.C. State. He was 1-for-8 as the Wolfpack fell to Rhode Island and Xavier.
n UNC cleanup hitter Kyle Seager (NW Cabarrus) began the season 3-for-8 as the Tar Heels thumped VMI 13-3 and 6-0.
n Jerod Faggart (NW Cabarrus) was 2-for-4 with one RBI as Appalachian State beat Jacksonville State 9-6 on Saturday.
n College lacrosse
Dan Mesler scored four goals as Pfeiffer defeated host Catawba 13-9 in men’s lacrosse on Saturday afternoon.
Jameson Schultz had two goals and two assists for the Falcons.
Max Vinograd scored three goals for the Indians (0-2). Marty Tuohy had two goals and three assists.
n Catawba tennis
Catawba swept the three doubles matches and beat Virginia State 5-4 in women’s action on Friday.
Catawba (5-3) got wins in singles and doubles from Steffi Cook and Candace Hall.
n Catawba junior tennis clinics begin today from 2-3:30 p.m.
The complete spring junior tennis schedule is on the www.gocatawbaindians.com Web site. For questions or to register, call Jeff Childress at 704-637-4265 or jchildre@catawba.edu.
n Catawba softball
USC Aiken swept a doubleheader from visiting Catawba on Saturday afternoon, winning 3-1 and 4-1.
Megan Lakes hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to give the Pacers the win in the opener.
Brittany Thornburg’s RBI single in the seventh had tied the game for the Indians (4-4).
Thornburg’s homer accounted for Catawba’s lone run in the nightcap.
n Prep basketball
Sectional basketball tournaments will be played this week.
Boys games are Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while girls games are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Salisbury’s boys are home Monday against South Iredell. West’s boys are home Monday against A.L. Brown. Carson is at Gastonia Forestview.
By agreement, South Rowan is playing a girls-boys doubleheader at Hickory on Monday.
See Scoreboard for pairings.
n North Hills hoops
The North Hills elementary boys won at St. Stephens Friday on a 3-pointer by Jay Wood with 1.1 seconds left to play.