College basketball: Indians stop skid

Published 9:31 pm Saturday, December 19, 2020

Catawba coach Rob Perron directed a road victory on Saturday. Photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post.

Staff report

MARS HILL —  It took overtime to get it done against a winless team, but Catawba head coch Rob  Perron isn’t complaining.

The Indians snapped a three-game losing streak with Saturday’s 83-81 road victory at Mars Hill.

Catawba shot 50.9 percent for the game and put Taqwain Drummond (16 points),  Terrence Whitfield (15), Ben Bowen (13) and Larry McLeod (13) in double figures.

Catawba (2-3) led by 12 at halftime and by 13 in the second half, but that lead disapppeared.

In the overtime period, Bowen made a go-ahead shot with 52 seconds left. A steal by Whitfield with 29 seconds  left led to two Caleb Robinson free throws for a three-point lead.

DJ Johnson rebounded a missed Mars Hill 3-pointer with six seconds left and made a free throw for a four-point lead.

Trey Belin made six 3-pointers and scored 22 for the Lions (0-3).

Mars Hill shot 43.5 percent and made 11 3-pointers.

CATAWBA (83) — Drummond 16, Whitfield 15, Bowen 13, McLeod 13, Johnson 9, Robinson 8, Phillips 6, Burt 2, Hemming 1, Pelote.

MARS HILL (81) — Belin 22, Wright 19,  Bryant 12, Conner 11, Peck 5, Johnson 3, Grant 3, Daniel 3, Elkins 3.

Catawba    39    33   11   — 83

Mars Hill   27     45    9    — 81