SALISBURY — Like Santa’s reindeer, Catawba sophomore Jerrin Morrison has the unexpected power of flight and proved it in Saturday’s 86-79 victory against visiting Anderson.
Morrison, last season’s South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year, elevated for 22 loud points and attracted so much defensive attention that classmate Jameel Taylor was able to glide and slither for 26 quiet points.
“Early in the season, Jerrin was putting a lot of pressure on himself,” Taylor said. “But today he was making shots, and even when they started keying on him, he kept attacking, drawing the defense, getting other players open.”
Morrison, a highlight waiting to happen, and Taylor, as solid and dependable as a John Deere tractor, are different players, but they go together like bacon and eggs. The super sophs shot 17-for-28 from the floor on Saturday.
“Jameel Taylor — that’s a guy you’ll go to war with,” Morrison said. “We’re the dynamic duo. We just do what we do.”
Morrison wasn’t doing a lot early this season, but he scored 26 sky-walking points in a win against Carson-Newman on Wednesday and he picked up where he left off against Anderson. The percentage of humans who can spring vertically like Morrison is small, and his return to form has made life more entertaining for Catawba fans and more fun for coach Rob Perron.
“A lot of guys played their roles well,” Perron said. “Jerrin and Jameel played off each other really well. Their stat lines show how efficient they were today, but we still want them to have more assists and fewer turnovers. They do a lot of things well and we want them to keep adding to that list.”
Morrison and Taylor were great, although they didn’t do it by themselves. Vismantas Marijosius scored 10 points on 3-for-4 shooting and swatted two shots. Troy Warren grabbed six defensive boards. Guards Ben Sealey and Rakeen Brown sealed victory at the foul line.
Catawba started slowly and trailed 8-4, but then Morrison jumped off the bench.
“I really like coming off the bench,” he said. “I like bringing energy.”
He brought points as well as fire. He had 15 in the first half on 6-for-8 shooting. All of those shots were contested. He just climbed above the defense like he was riding an elevator.
Catawba led by as many as 17 and took a 48-34 lead to the break. It was quite a first half for the Indians — 56-percent shooting and just three turnovers.
The second half was a different story. Catawba (5-5, 4-2) missed 12 of its first 13 shots, and suddenly Anderson (3-8. 2-4) was right back in it.
“They set the tone for the second half by getting loose balls and getting stops,” Perron said. “They’d made good defensive adjustments, they got momentum, and momentum in basketball is such a dangerous thing.”
With seven minutes left, Anderson had battled all the way back. Down 64-63, the Trojans missed a free throw for a tie. Anderson had another possession with a chance to take the lead, but Taylor stole the ball.
Then, with just three seconds on the shot clock and 5:35 left to play, Taylor wiggled between two defenders and banked in the biggest points of the game to put the Indians back up by three. Perron called it a “contortionist shot.”
“My teammates trusted me to take that shot and to make it,” Taylor said. “My mindset was, ‘Give me the ball, and I’ll make it.'”
Still clinging to a three-point lead with 4:40 left, Catawba ran a play to get Morrison an open look against Anderson’s zone. Two Indians set screens, and Taylor passed the ball to Morrison at the top of the circle. He drilled a 3-pointer, and the Indians led by six.
Morrison said he took 400 extra shots before pregame warmups, so he was prepared to make that deep shot.
“He shot it without hesitation,” Perron said.
Catawba maintained control of the game after that, although the lead was only 75-72 when Taylor stepped to the foul line and made two clutch free throws with 1:27 remaining.
Catawba shot 26-for-33 on free throws for the game and 21-for-26 (80.8 percent) in the second half.
Sealey made four free throws in the final 30 seconds. Morrison made two.
While it was a game with some rough patches, Catawba, now 5-0 when it wears its white uniforms, played with a sense of calm.
“I’m sure I was more worried than the guys were, and that was evident in the way they shot clutch free throws,” Perron said. “I was proud of the way we finished the game.”
Rakish Taylor and Maurice Howard scored 21 apiece for Anderson. Randall Shaw, Anderson’s scoring leader, took a hard fall and was limited to 24 minutes. He scored three points.
Anderson shot 53.6 percent in the second half.
Catawba has won five of seven after starting 0-3 and is tied for third place in the SAC after Lenoir-Rhyne was upset by Carson-Newman.
The Indians won’t play again until they go to Belmont Abbey on Dec. 31. Catawba’s next home game is against North Greenville on Jan. 2.

ANDERSON (79) — R. Taylor 21, Howard 21, Fields 18, Davis 10, Shaw 3, Fisher 3, Dotson 2, Dargan 1.
CATAWBA (86) — J. Taylor 26, Morrison 22, Marijosius 10, Warren 7, Sealey 6, Brown 5, McLaughlin 5, Ingram 5, Perkins, Sampah.

Anderson     34    45  — 79
Catawba 48 38 — 86