Fast start fuels Men’s Basketball to 2-0 start in SAC play

Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College men's basketball moved to 2-0 in South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday afternoon with an 88-65 win over visiting Mars Hill University in Goodman Arena.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba shot 34-for-66 (52 percent) from the floor, while holding Mars Hill to just 17-of-47 (36 percent) from the field

- The Catawba Indians were 8-for-21 (38 percent) from three-point range; the Lions were just 6-of-22 (27 percent) from deep

- Catawba was 12-for-14 (86 percent) from the free throw line, while MHU went 25-for-35 (71 percent) from the charity stripe

- The Catawba Indians out-rebounded the Lions 37-31; both teams recorded 14 second-chance points

- Catawba dished out 20 assists to 13 turnovers; MHU had nearly the reversed statistics: 14 assists to 20 turnovers

- The Catawba Indians out-scored the Lions 44-18 in the paint and 15-2 in fast break points

- Catawba's bench held a 43-16 advantage over Mars Hill's bench

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- DeAngelo Epps recorded team-highs of 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals

- Javeon Jones added 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting with four boards and four assists

- Montraivis White pitched in a career-high 13 points on three three-pointers off the bench

- Peyton Gerald went for nine points on 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line with four rebounds

- Dre Nelson also had nine points with three assists

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

- Catawba jumped out to an early lead, scoring the game's first six points on their first three possessions

- The Catawba Indians pushed their lead to 15-2 on Bivins' jumper at the 14:19 mark

- Kadyn Dawkins recorded Mars Hill's first field goal nearly eight minutes into the game

- Dawkins made another three-pointer to cut the Lions' deficit to under 10 points

- Epps' layup at the midpoint of the half pushed the Catawba lead to 21-10

- Shad Thomas' layup gave Catawba a 16-point lead with under four minutes to go

- The lead grew to 42-22 on Nelson's layup at the 2:37 mark

- MHU scored six of the final eight points of the half to cut their deficit to 44-28

SECOND HALF

- The Lions added the first four points of the second half to cut Catawba's lead all the way down to 12

- Mars Hill's run grew to 21-8, as the Lions got within 10 points for the first time since five minutes into the first half

- Dawkins' free throw cut the deficit to 50-43 at the 14:17 mark

- The teams traded baskets until Catawba went on a 7-0 run to take a 14-point lead with less than nine minutes left

- Jones' three-pointer pushed the Catawba Indian advantage all the way back to 73-55 around the six-minute mark

- Kris Robinson drilled a three-pointer pushed the lead to 86-63 with 90 seconds to go

- Paxton Broadway logged his first collegiate points in the closing seconds

UP NEXT

- Catawba returns to SAC action on Wednesday, hosting Anderson at Goodman Arena at 7:30 p.m.