PREVIEW: Men’s Basketball closes homestand Saturday against Emory & Henry

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's basketball team hopes to halt a two-game skid as Emory & Henry visits Goodman Arena on Saturday for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Wednesday's OT Thriller

- The Catawba Indians' 112-108 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne in overtime snapped a three-game streak of wins when going past regulation

- Six double-figure scorers headlined the Catawba lineup featuring 21-point performances by Ibra Athie and Montraivis White

- Nick Walker went 6-for-8 from the field and 7-for-8 at the charity stripe – sinking the overtime-producing free throw with 0.9 seconds left in regulation – to total 19 points

- Athie led the rebound count with 10 boards including six on the offensive end as White contributed to an additional 15 points with a team-high seven assists

- Chase Daniel paced a five-man stable of multi-time swipers with four takeaways

Four Straight Double-Doubles

- For the fourth consecutive game, Catawba received a double-double outing against LR as Athie posted 21 points and 10 rebounds

- The Cincinnati, Ohio native joined Walker as the second Catawba player to record multiple double-doubles on the year

- Athie started the streak back on Nov. 23 at nationally-ranked Carson-Newman before Walker accomplished the feat for a second time against UVA Wise on Nov. 26

- Justin Banks came off the bench to notch 11 points and 11 boards in a tough loss to No. 18 Lincoln Memorial last Saturday before Athie continued the trend of big outings on Wednesday

All-Time Series

- Catawba and Emory & Henry have met just seven times, the fewest number of occasions among South Atlantic Conference foes, in a series that the blue and white boast a 5-2 lead

- After E&H took two wins in the 1937-38 season, the Catawba Indians have prevailed five times in a row with a 2-0 record on home floor

- Since joining the SAC in Summer 2022, the Wasps have been defeated by an average of 11 points; last season, Catawba tallied a decisive 85-65 win following a tight 95-91 victory eked out in the King Center

Scouting the Wasps

- At 2-6 overall with wins against Conference Carolinas members Erskine and King, Emory & Henry seeks its first league triumph

- The Wasps pulled out just two SAC victories last season, topping Mars Hill by eight and UVA Wise by one

- First-year head coach Jimmy Allen brings a wealth of experience to his alma mater in Southwest Virginia. Allen was the associate head coach at New Hampshire in 2023-24 following head coaching tenures at Army West Point (2016-23) and Averett (2004-10)

- Freshman guard Korbin Dixon has been a bright spot in the Wasp lineup with 15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.4 steals per game

- In the post, forward Assad Madassalia leads the conference with 2.8 blocks per contest in addition to 7.6 points and 6.6 boards (2.9 offensive) on a per-game basis

Follow Along

The game will be broadcast on FloCollege ($) with live stats on CatawbaAthletics.com.