Late Rally Falls Short as Men's Basketball Falls to C-N

SALISBURY, NC – Carson-Newman held off a late Catawba rally as the visiting Eagles claimed a 73-69 win in South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gym.  Carson-Newman improves to 12-8 overall and 5-5 in the SAC, while the Catawba Indians fall to 5-13 and 2-8.

The Eagles used a 12-2 run, getting three-pointers from Antoine Davis (Rustburg, VA) and Ishmael Sanders (Cleveland, TN) sandwiched around a pair of buckets from Kevin Leatherwood (Charlottesville, VA), to go up 25-12 after nine minutes of action.  Another three-pointer from Sanders pushed the margin to 40-20 with four minutes left in the half and a basket by Jared Johnson (Springfield, MA) gave C-N its biggest lead of the game at 42-21.

Carson-Newman connected on 57% in the opening half, including a 7-of-11 effort from behind the arc.  Catawba managed to hit on just eight of 33 shots (24%) and were out-rebounded 25-15.  Sanders had 11 at the break, while Corbin Jackson (Rockledge, FL) nearly had a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.  Keon Moore (Colerain, NC/Bertie HS) kept the Indians as close as they were with 13 points and Catawba also committed just three turnovers in the half.

Catawba cut the lead to nine several times midway through the second half, but the Eagles would answer.  Sanders delivered a three-point play to up the margin to a dozen with 12 minutes left and Davis hit a basket and canned a three-pointer at the 7:09 mark for a 61-47 edge.  The Indians made a final push in the last four minutes.

Stuart Thomson (Poynton, ENGLAND/Poynton) had a dunk then a three-pointer at the 3:22 mark to close the gap to 65-62.  Tyrece Little (Greenville, NC/Rose HS) and Justin Huntley (Mooresville, NC/Mooresville HS) was able to twice pull Catawba within two points, but after Huntley’s basket with 30 seconds remaining, Collin Crane (Knoxville, TN) and Sanders converted a pair of free throws to thwart the comeback bid by the Indians.

Sanders finished with 21 points to lead Carson-Newman.  Davis added 14 points and seven boards, while Jackson had his double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Moore led all scorers with a game-high 25 points for Catawba.  Thomson added 15 points, while Little and Huntley each added a dozen.  Moore also led the Indians with nine rebounds.

After a poor shooting first half, Catawba canned 56% in the final half to just 37% for Carson-Newman and cut the rebounding deficit to just six, but could not quite catch up.  The Indians finished with nine turnovers, while Carson-Newman committed 17 miscues.

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