Staff report
Catawba’s Antonio Houston bounced back from a rare off game, poured in 29 points and led Catawba to a 90-78 victory against Lincoln Memorial in a SAC tournament men’s basketball quarterfinal on Wednesday.
Houston, who scored only nine points in Catawba’s regular-season finale against Brevard, shot 11-for-20 from the floor at Goodman Gym, hit four 3-pointers and pulled down eight of his 11 rebounds on the offensive end.
No. 4 seed Catawba was clinging to a two-point lead with 9:33 remaining, but went on a 9-0 run to get some breathing room.
Cliff Burns (Davie) had one of his better offensive games with 15 points. Point guard Dominick Reid had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Rob Fields (12) and Isaac Rose (10) also scored in double figures. Donald Rutherford had 10 rebounds for the Indians, who beat LMU on the boards for the first time this season.
Catawba shot 45 percent.
Desmond Johnson had 22 points and 11 boards for the Railsplitters, who ended their season at 14-14.
Lincoln Memorial shot only 29 percent in the second half and 39 percent for the game.
Catawba will play No. 1 seed Lenoir-Rhyne in a Saturday semifinal at 6 p.m. at Hickory’s Catawba Valley Community College.
Catawba (19-9) has a good chance to earn a bid to the regional tournament if it can beat L-R.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL (78) ó Johnson 22, Miller 12, Armstrong 11, Joseph 11, Curry 9, Sanford 7, Bogard 4, Martin 2.
CATAWBA (90) ó Houston 29, Burns 15, Reid 15, Fields 12, Rose 10, Rutherford 9, Shoemaker, Sossamon, Huntley, Adams, Tamer, Magnusson.
LMU 38 40 ó 78
Catawba 42 48 ó 90
– SAC tournament
There were two wild games in the first round of the SAC men’s tournament on Wednesday.
No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne 111, No. 8 Carson-Newman 109
Josh Rudder scored 30 points for Lenoir-Rhyne, while D.J. Blackmon and Elliott McDowell scored 24 each.
Blackmon’s dunk with nine seconds left gave the Bears a three-point lead. Carson-Newman made a free throw with five seconds left, then missed a second free throw. Carson-Newman’s Jesse McMurray rebounded, but his 3-point try to win missed
The Eagles knocked down 13 3-pointers and led by 10 points with six minutes left in regulation.
No. 2 Newberry 107, No. 7 Mars Hill 103 (OT)
Newberry’s Jesse Wheeler hit a 3-pointer with one second left in regulation to force overtime.
Clemente Martin paced Newberry with 32 points.
P.J. Gore had 25 for the Lions.
No. 3 Tusculum 64, No. 6 Wingate 53Kyle Moore scored 20 points to lead the Pioneers.