Men’s Basketball torches Eagles from field in 28-point thumping of Carson-Newman

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's basketball team splashed over 60 percent of its shots from the floor to complete a season sweep against Carson-Newman, 91-63, on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Arena.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba (7-4, 5-3 SAC) shot the cover off the ball – especially in the second half when the hosts hit 19-of-26 (.731) – to lead Carson-Newman (9-4, 5-3 SAC) by a 62.7-42.3 percent margin

- The Catawba Indians sank a season-high 52.9 percent of their three-point heaves while the Eagles posted a season-low mark of 24.1 percent

- Carson-Newman went 12-for-17 (.706) from the charity stripe, the only category it led in as Catawba logged an 8-for-13 outing

- On the boards, Catawba maintained a 33-24 edge despite being even at 8-8 in offensive rebounds

- The hosts finished with a 20-7 advantage in points off turnovers thanks to a 17-10 lead in the turnover battle

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Kris Robinson became the 57th member of the program's 1,000-point club with a season-best 24 points on a career-high nine field goals; the Lincolnton, N.C. native's six treys moved him into second place all-time in career three-pointers (227)

- O'Mazeon Tinsley also set a campaign best with 14 points off the bench

- Also netting 14 points, Ibra Athie tallied the fourth double-figure performance of his redshirt-junior campaign

- Nick Walker netted 13 points on a 6-for-7 day from the field, pulling down eight rebounds with three assists

- Chase Daniel had a strong 17 minutes all-around with five points, two boards, and two assists as a key piece of Catawba's stingy perimeter defense

- Cameron Ming made his varsity debut, entering for the final three minutes of action

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- Jack Browder's layup three minutes in produced a 7-3 Eagle lead that quickly evaporated when Catawba went on a 13-0 run as C-N suddenly got cold from long range

- The visitors ended their scoring drought of nearly six minutes on a John Zhao bucket, but it was immediately offset by a Walker two-pointer nine seconds later

- Midway through the period, the Eagles committed five turnovers in an eight-possession span including steals by Robinson, Walker, and Jashaun Hawkins as Catawba kept a comfortable edge

- A 13-point lead for the hosts at the under-four media timeout preceded five-point runs by both Tinsley and Keliese Frye to end the half

Second Half

- An opening-possession lay-in provided by Braden Ilic sliced the deficit to 11, but Catawba had responses for C-N's every make to prevent the Eagles from making it a single-digit gap

- The Catawba Indians scored seven of their first nine possessions in the second half featuring eight Robinson points on two more three-balls

- Daniel floated in a jumper for an and-one, converting it before Tinsley dropped back-to-back three-pointers, getting fouled on the second for a four-point play that upped the lead to 73-46

- Joshuwa Butts entered the contest and chipped in two baskets as Trey Hubbard's four points in 44 seconds gave the Eagles a glimpse of hope; however, Catawba rode a 12-0 run over the ensuing 4:31 to reach the high-water mark of a 33-point advantage

- Browder stopped the skid with a lay-in as he assisted Tate Mulkey on a trey moments later, but the contest remained out of reach for C-N to give Catawba the sweep

GAME NOTES

- The 28-point margin of victory is Catawba's largest in the series, tying the 89-61 differential on Mar. 2, 2001; it nearly triples the squad's highest amount of the season

- C-N surrendered its first shooting performance north of 60 percent since Tusculum knocked down 61.9 percent of field goals in the Feb. 9, 2011 meeting in Mossy Creek

- Browder, the nation's leader in total points and reigning NABC National Player of the Week, was capped at two points in the opening half; the junior guard chalked up an impressive second stanza, finishing with a team-high 18

UP NEXT

Catawba wraps up the calendar year on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Newberry for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against the South Atlantic Conference foe.