Catawba Tops Men's Basketball

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's basketball team lost 83-70 to Catawba in Stanford Arena on Saturday afternoon. Mars Hill falls to 3-2 and 0-2 in the South Atlantic Conference while Catawba improves to 2-2 and 1-1 in league play.

Justin Yeargin led Mars Hill with 17 points, followed by 13 points from Patrick Monroe. Isaiah Cuthbertson led the Lions with 10 rebounds.

Rakeem Brown scored a game-high 21 points, with Kijuan Arrington adding 15 points, Vismantas Marijosius with 13 and 11 each from Jameel Taylor and Jerrin Morrison. Arrington led the Indians with eight rebounds.

Catawba opened the game on a 10-0 run and led 12-4 at the first media timeout. Mars Hill cut the Indian advantage to four, 16-12, before Catawba answered with a 12-4 run for a 28-16 lead with 4:06 to play in the half. The Lions cut the Catawba lead to six, 28-22 before Catawba ended the half on an 11-4 run for a 39-26 halftime lead.

The Lions cut the Indian lead to eight following a Valentine Bauer 3-pointer and a Yeargin layup, but Catawba answered with a 10-2 run to push their lead to a game-high 16 points, 49-33, with 14:12 on the scoreboard. Mars Hill answered with a run of their own, cutting the Indian lead to 56-50 with 8:57 to play. Jalen Witherspoon provided six of the Lions' 17 points on that run as he made a 3-pointer and the free throw after being fouled while shooting and also had a layup. The Lions pulled to within four points, 62-58, following a Thomas Anderson layup, but the Lions came up empty on their next two possessions before an Arrington 3-pointer gave Catawba a 65-58 lead with 4:58 to play. Mars Hill pulled to within six points, 70-64, after a pair of Yeargin free throws, but Catawba finished the game on a 13-6 run to seal the victory.

Catawba outshot Mars Hill 46.6 percent to 41.5 percent and 75 percent to 56.3 percent behind the free throw line.

Mars Hill travels to Carson-Newman on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. tip-off.