GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — It was a game Catawba’s men were supposed to win, but they’ve lost several of those this year.
The Indians also have been shaky on the road — they were 1-7 when they got on a bus bound for Tennessee — so coach Jim Baker wasn’t taking anything for granted when his team took the floor on Saturday.
But this time the Indians showed up, especially up-and-down but immensely talented young guards Elon Edwards and Reggie Perkins. They led the way as Catawba clobbered SAC opponent Tusculum 106-87.
Edwards shot 6-for-7 on 3-pointers on his way to a career-best 35 points, while Perkins missed only two shots on a 15-point day. Edwards and Perkins teamed for 12 assists and three turnovers.
“We got on those two pretty hard this week,” Baker said. “They responded. They couldn’t have played any better. Elon didn’t just shoot the ball well, he made good decisions. He let the game come to him.”
Big man Tyrece Little got his usual 23 points and freshman Andrew Ingram added 12. Even with Kijuan Arrington having a quiet day, Catawba rolled.
“You could tell right from the get-go it would be a good day,” Baker said. “We came out sharing the ball. We were on fire, and we put up 57 in the first half.
Down 16 at the break. Tusculum tried to make a move early in the second half and knocked Catawba’s lead down to single digits.
“I told the players they’d gotten us into this mess and they’d have to get us out of it,” Baker said. “They got it going again, and we drilled them pretty good.”
Catawba outrebounded the Pioneers by 13, racked up 24 assists and ended a four-game losing streak.
Jalen Waker scored 22 for Tusculum (3-19, 2-14).
“We’d lost a bunch of close games in a row and we were on the road, but go figure, we played one of our best games of the year,” Baker said. “Out motto now is not to beat ourselves, and I really believe we’re getting better.”
Catawba (6-14, 6-10) is still in ninth place in a 12-team league and only eight make the SAC tournament. Catawba has six games left and plays Coker, one of the teams it has a chance to catch, on Wednesday at home.

CATAWBA (106) — Edwards 35, Little 23, Perkins 15, Ingram 12, Arrington 8, Warren 5, Sampah 4, Bishop 2, Marijosius 2, Houston, Mayo, Burney, Henderson, Byrd, Emerson, Watson.
TUSCULUM (87) — Walker 22, Flynn 18, Fisher 12, Spinks 10, Fox 7, Mounce 6, Shown 4, Miller 3, Jumper 2, Carter 2, Fagan 1.
Catawba 57 49 — 106
Tusculum 41 46 — 87