By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Catawba’s seniors went out as winners at Goodman Gym.
Relentless sophomore Jameel Taylor, who scored 25 of his 27 points in the second half, keyed the victory, but the four seniors — Julian Sampah, Vismantas Marijosius, Reggie Perkins and C.J. Burney — did their share in an 84-75 South Atlantic Conference win against Brevard.
“I’m happy because not only did we win their last game in this gym, all the seniors gave us so much,” Taylor said. “I told them to have fun today. If they had fun, we’d win.”
Sampah had more fun than a kid in a pillow fight. He turned in a special game, his best in a long time. He had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
“We haven’t had as good a year as we hoped to have,” Sampah said. “But this was a good day. All I wanted to do was contribute to a win, and we got it.”
It was a win that secured a berth in the eight-team SAC tournament for Catawba (11-15, 9-11) and ended a four-game losing streak.
It was an emotional day as all Senior Days are. The Lithuanian national anthem preceded the Star-Spangled Banner in honor of Marijosius. Moments later, a red-eyed Marijosius grabbed the rebound on Brevard’s first missed shot — and then he boarded Catawba’s first miss.
“Stats never tell the story with Vis,” Catawba coach Rob Perron said. “He had six rebounds today, but it’s hard to say how many times he had the box-out that allowed a teammate to get the rebound.”
Perkins and Burney made early 3-pointers as Catawba’s senior day lineup pushed to a 10-4 lead.
When the regulars entered the game, Brevard promptly roared back, so Perron re-inserted the senior lineup for a second tour of duty.
Sophomore guard Rakeen Brown played well and helped Catawba get to halftime with a 34-29 lead. Catawba led at the break, even with leading scorer Taylor contributing only two points and No. 2 scorer Jerrin Morrison managing just three.
“My teammates told me to stay with it and told me they were trusting me to score,” Taylor said. “Then good things happened in the second half.”
Taylor scored Catawba’s first six points of the second half on two driving layups and two free throws. He’s a lean 6-foot-3 guard, but he gets the majority of his points attacking the rim.
“He’s done it all year,” Sampah said. “Every game, he scores the ball.”
Guard Demarcus Threatt kept the Tornados (5-21, 4-16) in the game by pouring in 30 points, but Catawba finally pushed to a double digit lead at 56-45 midway through the second half when Jeremy McLaughlin scored in the paint and Brown, who contributed 16 points, buried a right-wing 3-pointer off a kick by Taylor.
Sampah fouled out to an ovation from the crowd with 2:42 remaining.
Brevard sliced the lead down to as few as six points late in the contest, but Taylor always answered, whether it was outfighting three Tornados for a loose ball, out-jumping a 6-8 center or powering to the hoop past multiple defenders.
“We had a matchup with Taylor we liked and we ran the same play three straight times and he scored three times with those downhill drives,” Perron said. “He gets to the rim so quick, it’s hard to stop him. He made some strong finishes and he made some patented contortionist finishes.”
Taylor finished with a 7-for-11 shooting day and was 12-for-13 at the foul line. Sampah’s 6-for-8 at the line contributed to Catawba’s 28-for-36 free-throw shooting.
Perron handed the gameball to Sampah, and Taylor was pleased with that decision.
This was a day for the seniors. Taylor’s best days — and Catawba’s — are in the future.
•••
NOTES: Taylor scored in double figures for the 18th consecutive game. .. Catawba has road games left at Wingate and Lincoln Memorial. Those will be uphill fights, and then Catawba will be on the road against a high seed in the first round of the tournament. … The most talented member of Catawba’s senior class will still be around next season. K.J. Arrington will return from an ACL tear and Catawba will have a chance to move back among the league’s elite teams. .. Catawba has won nine of its last 10 against Brevard.

BREVARD (74) — Threatt 30, El Diraoui 10, Dunham 9, Bostic 8, Leathers 8, Moe 6, Williams 3.
CATAWBA (85) — Taylor 27, Brown 16, Sampah 14, McLaughlin 6, Perkins 6, Marijosius 5, Morrison 5, Burney 4, Warren 2, Sealey.

Brevard 29 45 — 74
Catawba 34 51 — 85