GOODMAN MAGIC: Men’s Basketball summons miraculous comeback in opening-night win over Lander

SALISBURY, N.C. – After trailing by 12 points with 1:30 remaining, the Catawba College men's basketball team surged back with Justin Banks' put-back slam capping an incredible comeback victory against Lander, 97-96, on opening night at Goodman Arena.

TEAM STATS

- The Catawba Indians (1-0) sank four more shots from the field than Lander (0-1) at 35-for-82, but the Bearcats were more efficient with a 31-for-63 (.492) shooting clip

- Catawba struggled from long range, hitting just four of its 22 attempts while Lander poured in 13 three-balls on a 40.6 percent success rate

- Especially late, the contest was decided by free throw prowess as the hosts went 23-of-29 (.793) against Lander's 21-for-35 (.600)

- Catawba's 23 offensive boards is the highest mark since Jan. 19, 2019, as Lander was out-rebounded 52-41 and lost the turnover battle by a 16-10 margin

- In the second half, Catawba held a lead for only the final few seconds

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Four Catawba Indians scored in double figures, led by Kris Robinson with 18 points

- Banks netted 17 points, nailing a team-high seven free throws, in addition to eight rebounds and two blocks

- In his Catawba debut, Nick Walker recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards, eight of which were offensive grabs

- O'Mazeon Tinsley rattled home 10 points as he and Montraivis White shared the team lead in assists at four apiece

- Ibra Athie was a difference-maker with seven points, eight rebounds, three steals, and two assists to finish at a plus/minus of +18

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- Catawba won the tip and immediately brought fireworks as Tinsley lobbed an alley-oop to Solomon Tucker on the opening possession

- The squads played neck-and-neck for most of the opening stanza until Catawba took its largest lead of six points with 8:58 to go

- Lander closed the gap in about three minutes, overtaking Catawba when Tim Steele intercepted a pass and Terry Leonard Jr. drilled the fast-break trey

- Eight points from Dominic Stanford in the last 1:58 gave the Bearcats a 44-36 lead at the break

Second Half

- The blue and white failed to put a dent in the deficit coming out of halftime; instead, Lander capitalized on Catawba turnovers and swished its free throws to take a 16-point lead

- Catawba refused to go away, however, as three consecutive Walker lay-ins cut the margin to nine

- Timely buckets from Stanford and Leonard Jr. continued to pump the Bearcat lead into double digits, reaching 16 again at 91-75 with three minutes to play

- Robinson's bullseye from downtown and a gritty second-chance basket by Zion McDuffie helped chop away at the Lander advantage

- Walker converted an and-one while Catawba was forced to foul, giving up free throws that the Bearcats missed. Banks drew a foul on offense and sank both shots

- Athie flew in to swipe the inbound pass, bouncing it off a Bearcat to give Catawba possession with 22 seconds remaining

- Dashing into the paint and tossing up a floater, Robinson got both the hoop and harm, but a miss at the line gave Lander an opportunity to put the game away

- Catawba fouled and Noah Dunn hit his first free throw, then the hosts called timeout. Lander came back on the court with six men and, once Dunn received the ball for his second try, officials whistled the Bearcats for an administrative technical foul

- Robinson went 2-for-2 and Dunn missed his last attempt as Catawba charged down, getting a jumper from Robinson that bounced out but Banks leapt in and dunked it to take the lead. A final heave at the buzzer fell short, giving the Catawba Indians a 97-96 stunner over Lander

UP NEXT

The blue and white take on another Peach Belt Conference member on Sunday, Nov. 10 as they travel to USC Aiken for a 3:30 p.m. tip.