SALISBURY, N.C. --- KJ Arrington led all scorers with 26 points to lead the Catawba men's basketball team to an 84-71 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Tusculum Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gym.
The Catawba Indians (12-6, 6-6 SAC) jumped out to a 19-point lead early in the second half, but had to fend off a TC rally to complete the season sweep over the Pioneers (7-10, 4-8 SAC), who suffer their third straight loss.
Arrington went 11-of-19 from the floor, while hauling in seven rebounds. Jameel Taylor finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and blocked three shots for Catawba. Andrew Ingram added 13 points, while Rakeen Brown posted 11 markers off the bench for the Tribe.
Tusculum's Ronnie Baylark scored 13 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, while Kendall Patterson finished with 18 points, three assists and three steals for the visitors. Cory Fagan went 5-of-9 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from three-point land for his dozen points.
Catawba used a 13-2 run early in the game and scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 48-31 lead at the intermission. The Indians shot 52.6 percent from the floor (20-38) in the first 20 minutes, with most of the offensive production coming in the paint as Catawba out-scored TC by a 30-10 margin in the lane. Tusculum went 9-of-30 (30%) from the field and made just two of its eight three-point tries (25%).
Catawba took its largest lead of the game at 58-39 following a Gilbert McGregor jumper with 15:37 left in the contest.
Tusculum answered by scoring 14 unanswered points over the next 5:23 which included 0-for-3 shooting by Catawba, coupled with six turnovers, including three offensive fouls. TC freshman Caleb Hodnett's lay-up following a Patterson steal trimmed the Catawba lead to 58-53 with 9:54 remaining.
After the two teams traded buckets, Catawba scored seven straight including an Arrington dunk following a Taylor steal as the Indians led by 12 (67-55) with 6:51 remaining.
TC answered with six straight markers as Hodnett made one of two free throws, Trey Blevin canned a three-pointer and Baylark converted a layup as the Pioneers trailed 67-61 with 4:13 on the clock.
But that would be as close as Tusculum would get as Catawba outscored the Pioneers 17-10 down the stretch while converting 12 of their 15 free throws in the final 2:19, including a string of eight in a row to seal the victory.
Catawba finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor, while the Pioneers went 40 percent, including 15-of-30 in the second half. Catawba won the rebound battle 44-32 and finished the game with a 50-30 advantage in points in the paint.
Catawba's Troy Warren was held to just three points, but came up with a game-high 11 rebounds. Zach Davis led Tusculum on the boards with his seven rebounds to go along with his seven points.
Fagan extends his school-record streak to 33 consecutive games with a made three-point field goal, a run which began last season.
The Pioneers will step out of South Atlantic Conference play on Monday night when they travel to Bluefield State for an 8 p.m. contest against the Big Blues.
