GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Lee Martin contributed 19 points off the bench, including three 3-pointers to lead the Catawba College men's basketball team to a 68-57 South Atlantic Conference victory over Tusculum College Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
The Indians (10-14, 6-10 SAC) keep their SAC Tournament hopes alive with the win as Catawba avenges last month's 59-54 home loss to the Pioneers (11-15, 8-8 SAC). Tusculum remains tied for fourth place in the league standings with two road games to play next week at Lenoir-Rhyne (Wed.) and Mars Hill (Sat.).
Tusculum's Brett Williams led the home team with 18 markers, shooting 6-of-12 from connected on his two 3-point attempts. Tommy Klempin tallied 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting, while Rob Troutman poured in 11 markers on his Senior Day.
Catawba's Keon Moore tallied 17 points, while Dominick Reid and Kelvin Drakeford scored 10 and nine points, respectively.
Catawba shot 50 percent in the opening half, while limiting the Pioneers to shoot 33.3 percent (6-of-18) as the Indians led 28-20 at the intermission.
Klempin connected on a layup to open the second period, but Catawba responded with six straight points, including a three-pointer by Moore and a Drakeford three-point play as the Indians took its largest lead of the afternoon at 34-22 with 18:41 remaining.
Catawba maintained that 12-point margin until the 12:02 mark as Tusculum responded with a 6-1 spurt including baskets by Klempin and Troutman and a pair of made free throws from Matt Darnell as TC trimmed the deficit to 48-41 with 8:57 remaining.
The Indians built the lead back to 11 after a Moore three-point play with four minutes left on the clock, but Tusculum scored six straight, thanks to a Williams three-pointer and a three-point play by Klempin as the Pioneers trailed 57-52 with 2:16 to go.
But that would be as close as Tusculum would get as Catawba shot 11-of-12 at the free throw line down the stretch, including 4-of-4 foul line performances by Cameron Lovelace and Martin in the final two minutes to seal the win.
Tusculum shot 48.7 percent for the game, including 13-of-21 (61.9%) in the second half. Catawba finished shooting 46.7 percent, including 6-of-12 from three-point land and 20-of-25 from the free throw stripe (80%).
Troutman's 11 points gives him 959 for his career, needing 41 more to become the 22nd player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau.
The Pioneers will be at Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday for an 8 p.m. contest at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium. Tusculum defeated the Bears 53-44 last month in Greeneville.
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