Men’s Basketball Loses to Catawba

MARS HILL, N.C. - Catawba got off to an early lead and held on for a 106-88 win over host Mars Hill in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action on Wednesday night at Stanford Arena. The Catawba Indians improve to 5-12 overall and 2-7 in the SAC. The Lions fell to 4-14 on the season and 2-7 in the league.

Mars Hill was led by Sammy Emile, who had 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. Emile leads the NCAA Division II in scoring, averaging 25.4 points per game. Terrell Harris added 19 points and Khouraichi Thiam tallied 17 with six rebounds. Mars Hill shot 44% for the game.

Keon Moore hit 13-16 shots, to score 33 points to lead Catawba. He went 4-of-6 from long range. Tyrece Little posted a double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds.

Moore hit a trio of early three-pointers to push the Indians to an early 15-2 edge just over five minutes into the contest. The Lions pulled within four at 22-18 on a three-pointer by Cody King midway through the half, but Catawba got a three-pointer from Lee Martin to start a 10-2 run to go up 32-20.

An 11-2 run by Catawba to close the half pushed the lead to 39-20 at the break. Moore had 17 at the half, while Little had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Indians shot 54% in the opening half to just 35% for the Lions and enjoyed a 25-14 edge on the boards.

Catawba stretched its lead to 68-44 at the 13:57 mark of the second half, its biggest of the night. Mars Hill cut the margin to eight with six minutes to go at 82-74 on a jumper by Noble Cunningham with 6:18 left, but the Indians responded with a 15-3 run to build its lead back to 20.

Cameron Lovelace also reached double figures for Catawba with 12 points, while Justin Huntley added 10. The Indians shot 60.6% for the contest.

MHC will host SAC rival Lenoir-Rhyne University on Saturday in Stanford Arena. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.