Saturday, February 9, 2008

LEAR LEADS TUSCULUM TO 65-61 ROAD WIN AT CATAWBA

SALISBURY, N.C. --- Tusculum snapped a six-game losing streak with a 65-61 win over host Catawba in South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gym.  The win improves the Pioneers to 9-13 overall and 3-7 in the SAC while sweep the season series over Catawba.

The Catawba Indians fall for the fourth straight time, dropping to 11-10 and 3-6.

Down 61-60, Jordan Lear (Zanesville, OH) converted a pair of free throws with 1:11 remaining to put Tusculum ahead for good.  After a Catawba turnover, the Pioneers got two more free throws from Ryan Troutman (Mt. Washington, KY) with 21 seconds left for a 64-61 lead.  Catawba would miss on a three-point attempt in the final seconds and Darren Hobbs (Dublin, OH) iced the game by making the first of two free throws with just 3.6 seconds to go.

Catawba held the biggest lead of the final half at six points, the last at 45-39 with 14:21 to go.  Tusculum would score nine straight points to grab the lead on a three-pointer by Lear.  Catawba came back to grab a 54-50 edge before the late Pioneer rally.

Lear paced Tusculum with 24 points, including 14 of the Pioneers’ 29 first half points.  Kyle Moore (Gainesville, FL) and Lavonti Jeter (Alexandria, VA) each had 11 points, with Jeter adding eight rebounds.  Norman Monroe (Newport News, VA) scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Catawba.  Isaac Rose (Jonesville, NC) followed with 11 points.

Tusculum held the early lead, jumping on top 12-4 after four minutes.  Catawba would take its first lead on a three-point play by Monroe with 9:42 left in the half.  The Indians enjoyed a 13-2 surge to go up 27-20.  Catawba would hold a 31-23 lead, but the Pioneers closed within a bucket by the half.

Both teams shot just under 40 percent in the opening half, but the Pioneers canned 46% in the final half to just 33 percent for Catawba.  The Indians were also just 3-of-24 from behind the arc.

Tusculum returns home Wednesday to host Wingate for an 8 p.m. contest at Pioneer Arena.

- TC -