SALISBURY, N.C. --- Antonio Houston came up two points shy of 2,000 career points, but his 25 was enough to lift host Catawba College to a 78-65 win over Tusculum College in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gym.
The win gives Catawba coach Jim Baker his 300th career win, all at his alma mater, and improved the Indians to 14-7 overall and 7-3 in the SAC. The Pioneers fell to 12-10 and 6-5 in league play. Catawba also avenges last month's 59-50 loss to the Pioneers.
Tusculum's Kyle Moore led all scorers with 31 points for his third 31-point effort in his last four outings. Moore was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line, while also connecting on a trio of three-pointers.
TC's Jimmy Boone hit two three-pointers in the opening four minutes as Tusculum jumped to a 6-0 lead. The Pioneers built the lead to 16-7 by the midway point of the opening half. Catawba clawed back and Houston tied the game at 20-20 on a three-pointer that made him the conference's No. 2 all-time scorer.
Tusculum did not surrender the lead in the opening half and took a 33-31 edge to the break. The Pioneers hit on 52 percent (11-of-21) in the first period, while Catawba struggled, hitting just 9-of-28 (32%). The Indians were 2-for-14 to start the game.
Justin Huntley gave Catawba its first lead on a three-pointer to start the second half, but it was three straight from behind the arc by Dominick Reid that sparked the Indians. He answered a three-pointer by Moore to give the Indians a 39-36 lead then added another after a turnover. His last gave Catawba a 45-39 edge with 15 minutes to play.
The Pioneers pulled even at 47-47 as Moore converted three free throws. After the teams traded a pair of free throws, Donald Rutherford put the Indians up for good with 11:05 left. Houston scored seven straight Catawba points, capped by a three-point play, for a 58-51 lead with 8:47 remaining. A Huntley three-pointer pushed the advantage to double-digits at 69-56 with 4:11 to go.
Moore pulled the Pioneers back with-in eight points (69-61) with a three-pointer at the 3:07 mark, but consecutive buckets by Fields and Martin put the game away.
Wes Taylor was the only other Pioneer in double figures with 12 points, while Justin Steigerwald dished out seven assists to add to his SAC-leading total.
Houston hit on 6-of-10 shots and was 12-of-13 at the line to score his 25 markers. Rob Fields followed with 16 and Huntley tallied 10 points.
Tusculum shot very well, finishing at 55 percent. Catawba improved to 54 percent in the second half and shot 42.6 percent for the game. The Indians held a 29-25 edge on the boards and had just seven turnovers to 18 for the Pioneers. The Tribe converted those 18 miscues into 28 points.
Catawba, the SAC's top free throw shooting team, went 25-of-30 at the foul line (83.3%).
Houston's 1,998 career points moves him past former Lenoir-Rhyne standout and Tusculum assistant coach Daniel Willis, who scored 1,980 points from 1998-2001. Moore has 1,638 points in his three seasons at TC, which are 10th on the SAC all-time scoring list.
Tusculum returns home on Wednesday to host Wingate University for an 8 p.m. contest at Pioneer Arena. TC defeated the Bulldogs 70-68 in the season's first meeting.
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