White splashes game-winner; Men’s Basketball gets revenge on Wingate

SALISBURY, N.C. – With the final seconds ticking away, Montraivis White drilled a pull-up three-pointer to clinch a 73-70 victory for the Catawba College men's basketball team over Wingate on Wednesday night.

TEAM STATS

- Although Wingate (8-9, 7-8 SAC) landed 50.9% of its field goals, Catawba (11-7, 8-6 SAC) put up 14 more attempts in a 42.0% outing

- The squads were nearly identical in efficiency from deep as the Catawba Indians led by half a percentage point (31.8%-31.3%)

- Free throws came at a premium – Catawba (8-for-11) posted its fewest number of attempts this season, while Wingate (9-for-10) had its second-lowest mark

- Catawba narrowly beat the 'Dogs on rebounds by a 34-32 margin, but the hosts' 15 offensive boards contributed to a 13-4 edge in second-chance scoring

- Wingate gave up possession 18 times after entering the contest ranked third in the South Atlantic Conference with 11.8 turnovers per game, while Catawba stripped away 14 steals and committed 10 turnovers

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- First-time leading scorer Solomon Tucker had 12 points with three boards and a block

- Nick Walker pocketed a team-high eight rebounds, put up 11 points, and snatched away three steals

- White and Justin Banks amassed 10 points apiece to round out the double-figure scorers as White corralled a career-high four takeaways

- Kris Robinson recorded nine points on two triples and a 3-for-3 trip to the charity stripe

- Zion McDuffie dropped in four buckets for an eight-point night while grabbing three rebounds, all offensive

- Making his second career start, Chase Daniel supplied six points with four boards and a team-best, career-high five assists

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- Tucker glanced in a lay-up on the opening possession to key a neck-and-neck start before Catawba recorded seven straight points to lead 13-6 early

- Kendall Taylor snapped the skid with a successful three-point play, but the Catawba Indians roared back with a 13-4 run to reach a 26-13 advantage at the under-8 media timeout

- During a Catawba scoring drought of nearly three minutes, Taylor added seven points to trim the gap to eight

- Another scoring burst from Catawba included back-to-back Robinson threes to raise the lead to 18, but Wingate responded with the last seven points of the half to make it 40-29 at the break

Second Half

- It took almost three minutes for Catawba to score after halftime as Wingate faced similar struggles on offense, going 1-for-3 with a turnover, as the deficit continued to hover around 10

- Down by 13 at the under-12 media break, the 'Dogs embarked on a 9-1 run over the next 2:33 to tighten the Catawba lead to 54-49

- Jordan Miller converted a hoop-and-harm at the eight-minute mark before Robinson off-set it a minute later, swishing three free throws after being fouled on a three-pointer

- Seven points from Aaron Hall down the stretch kept Wingate within striking distance as four from Taylor cut the gap down to two with 1:13 left

- Mike Erbeck drained the game-tying jumper, leaving 31 seconds for Catawba to tie or go ahead; following a timeout, White dribbled around the arc while getting teammates in position as he pulled up behind the line on the wing, finding nothing but net

- Video review showed 1.8 seconds on the clock, giving Wingate one final opportunity to respond but Jones tipped away the first inbound pass and Robinson swiped the second to finalize a 73-70 triumph

UP NEXT

Catawba makes a weekend trip to Gaffney, S.C. on Saturday, Jan. 25 to face Limestone at 4 p.m.