Catawba Sports Information

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Catawba opened its men’s basketball season on Saturday afternoon with an exhibition against the University of Maryland at the XFINITY Center. Maryland came away with a 95-61 victory. Jared Nickens led five Terrapins in double figures with 17 points.
Jameel Taylor (Anderson, S.C./Hanna) scored 14 points to lead Catawba, hitting on 6-of-12 shots. Gilbert McGregor (New Orleans, La./Lusher Charter/Wake Forest) added a dozen points and grabbed eight rebounds in 19 minutes of action. He went 6-of-10 from the field and posted three steals.
Maryland shot over 50% in each half and finished the game shooting 57% from the field. Catawba managed to hit just 34%, but did can 37% in the second half when the Indians were out-scored just 45-37. The Indians also had fewer turnovers than Maryland, 15 to 22 for the hosts. Catawba collected 13 steals and pulled down 18 offensive rebounds.
The Terrapins pulled away in the last half of the opening stanza. After a layup by Troy Warren (Mooresville, N.C./Lake Norman) Catawba trailed just 24-18 with 8:20 to go in the half. Maryland followed with an 8-0 run to lead 32-18 after a Dion Wiley three-pointer. The Terrapins would double its 13-point lead over the final five minutes of the half to lead 50-24 at the break.
The lead grew to 37 in the first four minutes of the second half, but the teams would pretty much match baskets the rest of the way. Maryland’s lead was between 32 and 38 points the rest of the way.
began to pull away midway through the opening half, building an 11-9 edge after five minutes to 23-11 by the 9:55 mark.
Anthony Cowan and Justin Jackson each scored 15 for the Terrapins with Cowan handing out five assists. L.G. Gill followed with 13 points and Wiley added a dozen. Damonte Dodd grabbed 10 boards. Melo Trimble played just nine minutes and did not score. He had a pair of rebounds with a steal and two assists.
Jerrin Morrison (Charlotte, N.C./E. Mecklenburg) just missed double figures for Catawba with nine points. Jordan Barber (Matthews, N.C./Weddington) joined McGregor with three steals and Peyton Pappas (Hillsborough, N.C./Cedar Ridge) handed out four assists.
Catawba begins its regular season on Friday in Hickory, N.C., facing Francis Marion at 6 pm.