Men’s Basketball makes bold statement, beats UVA Wise by 50 in regular-season finale

SALISBURY, N.C. – Kris Robinson shattered the single-season triples record with a career-high eight bullseyes on Saturday, sending the Catawba College men's basketball program's seniors out with a 104-54 trouncing of regionally-ranked UVA Wise at Goodman Arena.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba (17-11, 14-10 SAC) shot 51.4% from the field, topping UVA Wise's (18-10, 15-9 SAC) 37.3% shooting percentage – the Highland Cavaliers' second-worst of the year

- The blue and white shattered their previous season high of 11 three-pointers with 16 triples on 33 attempts (.485); UVA Wise went 6-for-19 from beyond the arc

- Catawba drained 82.4% of its free throws compared to the Cavs' 66.7% clip

- The turnover battle favored Catawba by a hefty 21-11 margin as the hosts posted a 14-4 advantage in steals

- The Catawba Indians led every in-depth scoring metric, besting UVA Wise in points off turnovers (24-8), in the paint (40-20), on fast breaks (14-2) and off the bench (46-17) with a shutout on second chances (15-0)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Robinson filled the cup with a career-best 32 points on eight daggers from deep, also grabbing a career-high eight rebounds in just 26 minutes of action

- Montraivis White racked up 14 points, hitting four three-pointers, while Zion McDuffie rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points including a reverse slam that sent the crowd into a frenzy

- Nick Walker rejected a team-high three shots, tying his season best, with five rebounds as Justin Banks notched two blocks and gathered six boards down low

- Carson Daniel distributed a career-high seven assists with a bucket on his lone shot

- Jashaun Hawkins led the squad in steals with three takeaways in a six-point affair

- After appearing in the starting lineup, senior Cameron Ming swished a corner three on his first career shot attempt

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- Bradley Dean drilled a three on the opening possession before six points from Robinson and a pair from Caleb Jones shifted the momentum to Catawba

- The Highland Cavaliers cut the gap to three, but a 14-1 run for the hosts left UVA Wise scrambling and facing a 26-10 deficit

- After assisting back-to-back Catawba baskets, Daniel took a defensive rebound coast-to-coast with a fast-break layup to extend the gap to 22

- Zy'Ever Wingfield logged four points and Max Lidman buried a trey shortly before halftime, but Robinson got the final word by breaking the Catawba single-season record for three-pointers as time expired in a 50-23 first half

Second Half

- Robinson, White and Banks torched the Cavs from three-point land to begin the second frame on a 9-2 kick; Banks followed a pull-up jumper by Dean with the first of five second-half dunks

- Ibra Athie successfully converted an and-one around the under-12 media timeout, then McDuffie sank back-to-back triples as the lead escalated to 74-35

- Patrick Shelley and Hensley Ward retaliated with treys of their own a minute later, keeping Catawba away from the 40-point mark

- Nonetheless, the blue and white broke the barrier on a steal and slam by Hawkins, going shot-for-shot with UVA Wise until Ming caught a feed from Chase Daniel in the corner pocket and found nothing but net to make it 94-51

- Dean converted a three-point play ahead of Catawba's 10-0 run to finish off proceedings as Jalen Hilliard's jumper with 56 seconds left put the final touch on a 104-54 rout

GAME NOTES

- Catawba's Class of 2025 – Naijah Buchanan, Cameron Ming, Kris Robinson, Shad Thomas and O'Mazeon Tinsley – and two senior members of the developmental program – Rylan Celesto and Jaylen Talley – were honored in a pregame ceremony

- Robinson finishes the regular season as the all-time single-season (85) and career (279) three-pointers leader, as well as the most accurate free throw shooter (.854) in Catawba history

- The 50-point margin of victory marks the fourth-largest win in program history as well as the greatest under head coach Rob Perron

- Out of the 156 SAC matchups this season, none were decided by a larger margin than 50 points

UP NEXT

Catawba moves on to next week's South Atlantic Conference Championship Tournament in Rock Hill, S.C. as the No. 6 seed. The blue and white open the postseason on Wednesday, Mar. 5 against third-seeded Coker at 2:30 p.m.