Men’s Basketball makes turnovers hurt in 87-77 dispatching of Anderson

SALISBURY, N.C. — The Catawba College men's basketball team possessed a 22-11 lead in points off turnovers against Anderson on Saturday, a margin that made all the difference in an 87-77 victory.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba (14-8, 11-7 SAC) recorded its second-highest shooting percentage of the season at 58.6%, clipping the 53.1% success rate posted by Anderson (12-10, 8-10 SAC)

- The Trojans pulled the trigger from deep twice as often as Catawba, sinking 45.5% of their threes compared to the hosts' 36.4%

- Both teams got 15 points from free throws but Anderson was more efficient by a 83.3%-71.4% margin

- The blue and white were held to a season-low 25 rebounds, but finished with a 15-7 edge in the turnover battle

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Ibra Athie sank 21 points on a season-high nine field goals and grabbed five rebounds (three offensive)

- Justin Banks also corralled five boards, coming off the bench to record a dominant 18-point night with a block

- Kris Robinson tallied 17 points, bolstered by a 6-for-8 outing at the charity stripe

- Solomon Tucker buried all four of his shots to score 10 points in as many minutes, adding four rebounds

- Carson Daniel distributed a team-best three assists while Montraivis White and Chase Daniel each registered two boards, two assists, and two steals

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- Austin Webb and Sam Perez supplied threes for Anderson in the first two minutes to take a quick lead, but Catawba reeled in to tie it with two buckets from Athie

- Jashaun Hawkins drilled a three-pointer to put Catawba ahead for the first time at 15-12, beginning a lengthy series of lead changes

- Down 23-21, the hosts used six straight points including four from Banks to slip ahead before Webb's triple and a Sentinel Moore tip-in erased Catawba's advantage

- The blue and white ended the half on a 12-5 run capped by an Athie second-chance layup to bolt into the driver's seat at 39-33

Second Half

- The Catawba Indians' momentum rolled into the second half with an 8-3 burst including a steal-and-feed from White to Zion McDuffie for a highlight reel jam

- The Trojans scored 12 of the next 14 points to come back within one, powered by AJ Wright Jr.'s seven in four minutes

- An and-one conversion and a put-back from Banks plus a pair of Tucker darts helped craft a 59-51 edge for Catawba with 9:08 to go

- Anderson continued to look for openings but failed to come closer than five points away despite late heroics from Wright Jr. and Perez

- Catawba sealed it behind five points from Banks in the last two minutes, notching the program's third consecutive campaign with 10 or more home victories

UP NEXT

Catawba meets another Palmetto State foe at Goodman Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 12, lining up against Coker at 7:30 p.m.