PREVIEW: Men's Basketball hosts Lander, visits USC Aiken to open 2024-25 campaign

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's basketball team gets the 2024-25 season off and running this weekend, welcoming Lander to Goodman Arena on Friday before traveling to USC Aiken for a Sunday afternoon affair.

Big Names Back

- The Catawba Indians bring back two everyday starters in Kris Robinson and O'Mazeon Tinsley who will captain the ship as seniors

- Montraivis White took home South Atlantic Conference All-Freshman Team honors as a rookie, projecting to earn greater workload with the graduation of Javeon Jones and DeAngelo Epps

- Shad Thomas and Justin Banks are expected to take on elevated roles at the forward position, leading a position group that expanded in the offseason

Consistent K-Rob

- Robinson led Catawba at the three-point and free-throw lines last season, modeling consistency while showing out in dire moments

- The Lincolnton, N.C. product drilled 37.6 percent of his heaves from downtown, connecting on treys to help lift the squad over Lincoln Memorial and UNC Pembroke in postseason comebacks

- At the charity stripe, Robinson was nearly automatic with an 88.2 success rate to slot third in the SAC

Transfer Pickups

- Five student-athletes take previous college experience into their first season at Catawba

- Caleb Jones is the only transfer addition to the guard group, recording 21 games with points in double figures and seven double-doubles at Kansas City Kansas Community College last year

- Ibra Athie has an opportunity to make noise on the wing, coming from Indiana University East of the NAIA where he averaged a double-double at 15.0 points and 10.7 rebounds

- Nick Walker posted similarly-strong numbers at East Mississippi Community College, putting up 13.4 with 9.5 boards

- North Carolina natives Solomon Tucker and Jashaun Hawkins join the roster as Tucker shot 61.5 percent from the floor with 13.3 points per game at Cabrillo College, while Hawkins had a scorching-hot year at Cleveland Community College, averaging 20.2 points as a sophomore

Daniel Twins

- The blue and white have a package deal in brothers Carson Daniel and Chase Daniel who begin their freshman campaigns this fall

- At local Central Cabarrus High School, the Daniels helped the Vikings secure back-to-back state championships in undefeated fashion

- The twins played for Catawba alum and 2021 Hall of Fame inductee Jim Baker who guided the men's basketball program from 1994-2014

- Carson and Chase finished second and fifth, respectively, in state assists per game rankings while both players exceeded 11 points per contest

Preseason Nods

- Behind Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman who tied for the top spot in the SAC, Catawba was placed third with one first-place vote in the league's preseason coaches' poll released on Nov. 1

- The Catawba Indians landed 12 points off the top spot at 125, leading by a wide margin over Wingate (104)

- No Catawba players were voted onto the two Preseason All-SAC teams, but the blue and white were represented by Robinson, White, Tinsley, and Banks as players to watch

All-Time Series

- Catawba has met Lander five times in all-time history, winning just once

- The last meeting occurred on Dec. 17, 2006 when the Catawba Indians defended home court for a 66-54 victory

- Earlier that season, Lander rattled off its fourth straight win in the series in Greenwood, S.C.

- The ledger is an even 1-1 at Goodman Arena as the Bearcats clipped Catawba, 80-72, in the foes' initial matchup back on Dec. 17, 1988

- Sunday will mark the 10th meeting between Catawba and USC Aiken, a series in which the Pacers hold a slight 5-4 lead

- As the visiting team, Catawba has gotten the best of USCA in two of the three contests

- However, the blue and white are on a three-game skid; in the last duel, Catawba was bounced from the 2023 NCAA Tournament by the Pacers in opening-round action

Scouting the Bearcats

- On the heels of a NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance last season, Lander enters 2024-25 as the Peach Belt Conference favorite

- The Bearcats return First Team All-PBC selection Inady Legiste whose 13.0 points and 5.9 rebounds helped the squad to a 22-10 overall record

- Second in scoring (9.8 PPG) and rebounding (4.5 RPG) a season ago, swingman Noah Dunn is back in the Bearcat lineup

- Joining the program from Lenoir-Rhyne is Tim Steele, a 6-5 forward who averaged 6.9 points, 3.1 boards, and 1.2 assists for the Bears in 2023-24

Scouting the Pacers

- USC Aiken has won back-to-back PBC titles under head coach Mark Vanderslice

- Leading scorer Jalen McCoy headlines the offense coming off a junior campaign when he netted 18.7 points per game while shooting a team-best 58.8 percent from the field last year

- Down low, Simeon German returns after piling up 61 blocks – ranking 12th nationwide – and stands as the only big man who started for USCA in 2023-24

- The Pacers have received an influx of talent as three Division I transfers enter the lineup: Mason Grant (Campbell), Davion Cunningham (UNC Asheville), and Kaleb Siler (Western Carolina)

Follow Along

The home game against Lander will be broadcast on FloSports ($) with live stats on CatawbaAthletics.com. The live stream from USC Aiken will be available on the PBC Sports Network, accompanied by real-time stats on pacersports.com.