Men's Basketball Steals Regular-Season Finale from Newberry

NEWBERRY, SC -- Keon Moore (Colerain, NC/Bertie HS) led all scorers with 27 points as he helped Catawba knock off Newberry 81-74 Saturday afternoon at Eleazer Arena. The Indians improve their record to 9-17 overall and 6-12 in the SAC as the Wolves drop to 15-11 and 9-9.

Catawba picked the Wolves’ pocket 11 times during the game and shot 50% from the field including hitting seven three-pointers. The Indians took advantage of all the steals as they netted 21 points off Newberry turnovers.

Cameron Lovelace (Cherryville, NC/Cherryville HS) made four long-range shots as he finished with 13 points and two steals. Kelvin Drakeford (Charlotte, NC/Cannon School/Barton) had a stellar game with 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting with four steals and six rebounds.

With the score tied at 58 with 7:50 remaining, Drakeford stole the ball from Newberry’s Chris Reynolds and went all the way in for a layup and was fouled giving the Indians a lead they would never relinquish. The three-point play was part of a 10-0 run that changed the momentum of the game to which Catawba rode until the final whistle.

The Indians continued rolling behind good perimeter shooting as Lovelace’s three at the 3:55 mark of the second half gave Catawba a ten point cushion. The closest the Wolves got the rest of the way was five points when Quayshun Hawkins hit a three-pointer with seven seconds left and the outcome already decided. Hawkins led Newberry with 18 points and six assists.

Catawba led most of the first half and had a 25-18 lead at 8:25 on the third of Lovelace’s three three-pointers in a minute and a half. Newberry came back to tie it at 32 with under a minute to go on a layup by Tomas Tomasson but Drakeford answered with one of his own to give the Indians the halftime advantage.

The Indians are the #8 seed in the upcoming Food Lion SAC Tournament and travel to #1 Anderson for a first-round game on Wednesday, Feb. 29 at 7 p.m.