Wilson sets career-high on Senior Day, Lions fall to Catawba

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's basketball team lost their 2017-18 regular season finale against Catawba, 103-94, in Stanford Arena Saturday afternoon.

At the end of the first half, the Lions trailed 50-44 to Catawba. Mars Hill roared out of the halftime and in the first 1:08 of the second half, took a 51-50 lead off of a 7-0 run. Bennett Wilson and Luke Van-Rijn had four and three points, respectively, in the run. Mars Hill's momentum was quelled following a 3-pointer from Jordan Barber, the catalyst for an 8-0 run to reestablish a seven-point lead. 

The Indians would hold Mars Hill within 10 points for the next several minutes before the Lions began their second comeback effort of the half with 13:23 left in the contest. Trailing 67-58, Wilson scored five straight points for Mars Hill to bring the lead down to four points with a raucous Stanford Arena cheering in the background. Feeling the momentum shift, Catawba called a timeout to slow the Lions fast-paced offense. Following the timeout, the Indians once again ballooned the lead back to double-digits, going on a 7-0 streak to lead 74-63 with 11:09 remaining.

A scrappy Mars Hill team continued to battle, but with under seven minutes to go, found themselves down by 14 points. With 5:21 left in the game, the Lions once again strung together a 6-0 run to cut the deficit down to eight points. Catawba, as was the theme in the game, rallied back to retake a double-digit lead heading into the final three minutes.

Down 96-84 with less than two minutes to play, Justen Hartfield's three-point play pulled the Lions within nine. Wilson scored a layup on the following possession to bring the lead down to seven, but the Lions would only ever pull to within six with under 40 seconds left in the game as Catawba held firm and won their 11th game of the season, 103-94.

Wilson, a senior, led all players with a team, season, and career-high 35 points, shooting 14-of-19 from the floor, including four 3-pointers on five attempts. Van-Rijn finished the contest with 14 points and seven rebounds. Fellow seniors Brandon Watkins and Cody Hylton each added 13 and 10 points, respectively. Hartfield added 21 points and collected five rebounds.

Jerrin Morrison led the Indians' offense with 33 points and six rebounds. Carter Phillips added 17 points and Malik Constantine picked up the double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Morrison started hot for Catawba, draining four of his first five 3-point attempts and putting up 14 points 13 minutes in. He ended the first half with 21 to lead all players. The Indians led all but two minutes of the first half and held the rebounding advantage over the Lions, 22-12, in the opening 20 minutes. Van-Rijn, Wilson and Hylton led the Lions entering the half with 11, 10 and 10 points, respectively.

Prior to the start of the game, Mars Hill celebrated the careers of seniors Bennett Wilson, Luke Van-Rijn, Cody Hylton and Brandon Watkins in their final games as Mars Hill Lions.

Mars Hill ends the season with a 4-24 (1-19 SAC) record. Catawba ended their campaign with an 11-15 (7-13 SAC) record.