Wednesday,
March 5, 2008
CATAWBA
EDGES TUSCULUM 67-63 IN SAC TOURNAMENT OPENER
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SALISBURY,
N.C. --- Catawba claimed a 67-63 over visiting
Tusculum in the opening round of the 2008 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference
men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday night at Goodman Gym. The forth-seeded
Catawba Indians improve to 17-11 and advance to face top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne
in a Saturday afternoon semifinal at Catawba Valley Community College. The
fifth-seeded Pioneers end their season at 13-15. It marked the third time
in the last five years the teams have met in the first round and each time
the team that swept the regular-season series lost the tournament encounter.
Tusculum had claimed 82-79 and 65-61 wins over Catawba earlier this year.
Rob Fields came off the bench to equal his career-high of 19 points
to lift Catawba. Antonio Houston scored 14 points and became just the
third player in school history to reach 1,000 career points as a sophomore.
A pair of Pioneers posted double-doubles in the loss. Jordan
Lear had 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Lavonti
Jeter added 13 points and 10 boards. Kyle Moore also reached double
figures with 14 points.
The game was tightly contested throughout as the lead
changed hands 10 times and was tied another 10. The largest lead of the game
was five points which each team enjoyed on several occasions. Catawba built one
its five point leads midway through the opening half and
went on top 21-16 at the 10:38 mark. A three-pointer by Fields in the closing seconds of the
half gave the Indians a 32-31 lead at the break.
Tusculum grabbed the lead early in the second half and
pushed the margin to 49-44 on a three-pointer and jumper by Lear with
10:17 left. Fields
would answer for Catawba with five straight points of his own to knot the game
at 54-all with 7:26 remaining. A basket by Norman Monroe put the Tribe
up for good at 56-54 with 6:58 left, but Tusculum stayed close down the
stretch.
Jeter cut the TC deficit to 63-60 with 2:03
remaining and a free throw by Ryan Troutman got the Pioneers within
63-61 with 20 seconds left. Fields made two free throws with 18 seconds to play, but Jeter
scored with four ticks on the clock to reduce the margin to 65-63. Jason
Diggs iced the game with two free throws with 3.5 seconds left.
Lear wraps up a stellar career at Tusculum as he finishes
his collegiate career with 1,550 points, the sixth most in school history. He also recorded 575 career rebounds (8th
in TC history) and 354 career free throws (3rd in school history). It was also the final game for Tusculum
seniors Jeter and Emory Cain.
- TC -