Men’s Basketball clipped by Coker in back-and-forth battle

SALISBURY, N.C. – Costly miscues in the final minutes allowed a late lead to slip away as the Catawba College men's basketball team fell to Coker, 93-88, in South Atlantic Conference play at Goodman Arena on Wednesday.

TEAM STATS

- Both teams posted shooting percentages north of .500 as Catawba (14-9, 11-8 SAC) drained 54.8% while Coker (16-7, 12-7 SAC) rattled home 56.1%

- The Cobras were slightly more efficient from beyond the arc, leading Catawba by a 43.3%-42.1% difference, as more than half of their total shots came from downtown with 13 made three-pointers

- Catawba finished a nose ahead of Coker at the charity stripe efficiency-wise (70.6%-69.6%), but the visitors received more opportunities and led the free throw tally 16-12

- Having to combat the nation's second-ranked offense, the Catawba Indians fought fire with fire and wound up blowing the Cobras away on fast breaks by a 30-7 margin

- The blue and white out-rebounded Coker 34-26 but were shut out in the blocking category for just the third time this season; the Cobras swatted five Catawba field goal attempts

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Kris Robinson amassed a team-high 18 points on five three-pointers, cutting the gap to tying the all-time record to 11, and matched his career high in rebounding with six grabs

- Notching his sixth double-double, Ibra Athie tallied 17 points and 15 boards after recording 23 and 14 at Coker back on Jan. 15

- Caleb Jones poured in 13 points, tying his season high, and dished out a trio of helpers

- Zion McDuffie rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points, going 5-for-6 from the field, and recorded a team-best plus/minus of +10

- Montraivis White and Carson Daniel served roles in distribution with team-high assist marks of five and four, respectively

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- Athie dropped in the first two Catawba buckets of the evening as Coker assumed control in the first five minutes with an 11-4 advantage

- Catawba erased the deficit in less than a minute using five points and an assist from Jones, but the Cobras took a lead to the under-12 media timeout

- O'Mazeon Tinsley and Robinson went back-to-back from long range to put the hosts in front by four halfway through the opening 20 minutes

- The Catawba Indians fended off the Cobras for the next handful of minutes until Xavier Harris laid in the go-ahead score as Jonah Vaysbakh and Jamie Muldowney splashed threes in the last two minutes, keeping Coker up 45-42 at the break

Second Half

- Six straight points from Catawba were combatted by Isaiah Blue's trey before Robinson and Muldowney exchanged three-balls a minute later, setting up a neck-and-neck second half

- A Harris a three-pointer just before the under-12 media break was just the beginning of a 9-0 run for Coker that bumped its lead to 71-64

- Still facing a seven-point wall to climb, two Robinson threes in as many possessions were followed by an electrifying, coast-to-coast dunk from McDuffie to jolt into the driver's seat at 82-81

- Muldowney landed a free throw as Robinson and Harris traded blows from downtown, making it an 85-85 ballgame with 3:36 left to play

- Landon Butler and Sebastian Cole struck on two costly Catawba turnovers and kept the hosts at bay with sturdy shooting at the free-throw line, gaining the win and breaking the tie for fourth in the conference standings

UP NEXT

Catawba hits the road this weekend to square off with Emory & Henry on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 4 p.m.