Area Sports Briefs: Catawba men open with victory

Published 1:15 am Saturday, November 12, 2016

From staff reports
Catawba’s men’s basketball team missed nine of its first 10 3-point tries to dig a hole, but owned the second half in a 75-62 win against Francis Marion on Friday in Hickory.
Jameel Taylor scored 23 points for the Indians. Jerrin Morrison and K.J. Arrington added 17 each.
Taylor, Morrison and Gilbert McGregor had seven rebounds each.
Catawba trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, but Taylor had a layup and a 3-pointer to start an 11-0 run.
Catawba shot 33 percent in the first half and was tied 26-all with the Patriots.
But Catawba shot 57 percent in the second half.
Catawba scored the first seven points of the second half and led 42-32 after a pair of free throws by Taylor with 14 minutes remaining.
A 3-pointer by Taylor with 10 minutes to go put the Indians on top to stay.
Warren Specht came off the bench to score 14 points for FMU.
Each team committed 18 turnovers with Catawba holding a 42-37 edge on the glass.
The SAC/Peach Belt Challenge continues in Hickory tonight. Catawba will take on UNC Pembroke at 6 p.m.

Catawba 75, FMU 62

FMU (62)
Specht 14, Browning 10, Council 10, Alexander 7, Bridges 5, Parker 5, Nnaji 4, Smith 3, Jackson 2, Hilmarsson 2 .
CATAWBA (75)
Taylor 23, Arrington 17, Morrison 17, McLaughlin 4, Barber 3, Warren 3, Brown 3, Sealey 3, McGregor 2.
Francis Marion 26 36 — 62
Catawba 26 49 — 75

Men’s basketball

Tre Williams (Carson) scored 11 points for Claflin against UNC Wilmington on Friday.
The Seahawks won, 110-64.
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D.J. Copeland (A.L. Brown) scored 19 points on Friday to lead Newberry in a 101-88 loss to Charlotte.
Copeland had six points and eight rebounds in a win against Erskine on Thursday.

Men’s cross country
Charlotte freshman Zachary Marchinko (Carson) ran 30:25 in Friday’s 10K Southeast Regional.
Marchinko helped the 49ers finish 10th. He was the second runner for Charlotte.

College football
The CIAA announced Elizabeth City State’s Earnest Wilson III as the Football Coach of the Year.
In his first year at the helm of the Vikings’ football program, Coach Wilson led his team to a 5-5 overall record, going 4-3 in conference play and 3-2 in the Northern Division.

Women’s hoops
Morehead State’s Shay Steele (West Rowan) had eight rebounds, six points and three blocks in a 68-50 loss to Georgia State.
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A late 3-pointer by Sydni Bickford lifted Pfeiffer to a 50-47 upset win against N.C. Central.

College volleyball
Hannah Elmore (Carson) had eight kills and Savannah Cox (NW Cabarrus) had six as Brevard beat Carson-Newman, 3-1, on Friday.
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Catawba was swept by host Anderson in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Friday at the Abney Center.
The Indians had a seven-match winning streak snapped and fell to 16-11 and 13-8.
Kimberly Hurtado had 11 kills for the Indians.

ley) recorded a game-high 11 kills for Catawba. Alex Hopper (Madison, N.C./McMichael) followed with 10 as the Lady Indians hit just 18.5% compared to Anderson’s 30%. Libero Meredith Furr (Concord, N.C./Cox Mill) collected 26 digs.

Marissa Mitter posted 13 kills for Anderson with 14 digs. Rachel Burts had 12 kills and five blocks. Emily Conard recorded 22 digs and Emily Conlin handed out 45 assists with three aces.

Four straight Anderson errors had Catawba up 6-2 in the opening set. The Lady Indians kept the lead at 13-9 before a 10-1 Trojan run sparked the hosts. A couple of kills from Hurtado and an ace from McKenzie Garrison (Newton, N.C./Maiden) got Catawba within 24-21 but a Kathryn Hughes kill ended the set.