SALISBURY, N.C. --- Addison Flynn scored a career-high 32 points and set a Tusculum College single-game record for made free throws as the Pioneers held off a furious Catawba College rally to escape with a 68-63 victory Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action at Goodman Gymnasium.
The Pioneers (3-9, 1-3 SAC) led 44-20 with 13:32 left but were outscored 43-24 the rest of the way by the Indians (4-8, 1-3 SAC), who cut the deficit to three in the closing moments before Flynn hit two free throws with 1.4 seconds left.
Flynn scored 21 second-half points and was 19-for-22 from the foul line to break the previous record of 18 foul shots set by James Boshears against Bryan on Jan. 10, 1995. His 22 attempts were the second-most in a game in program history, trailing only the 26 from Boshears in the same game in 1995.
Flynn, who entered the game at 16-for-22 from the foul line in 10 games, broke his previous career high of 23 points set Jan. 2 at Lees-McRae. As a team, the Pioneers were 28-for-36 (77.8 percent) at the foul line, including 26-for-34 in the second half alone.
Lee Martin led the Indians with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Elon Edwards added 16 points, all in the second half. Tyrece Little also reached double figures for Catawba with 12 points and nine rebounds in 39 minutes of action.
After leading 32-19 at halftime, the Pioneers opened the second half on a 12-1 run to build a 44-20 lead with 13:32 to play. The Indians responded with a 17-3 run to trim the deficit to 47-37 following a three-pointer by Martin with 8:22 left, and a three-pointer by Edwards brought Catawba withing 48-41 at the 6:38 mark.
Held without a field goal for just over 12 minutes, Tusculum finally broke their drought on a jumper by Flynn with 6:02 to go. That would be the only field goal for the Pioneers until a fast-break layup by Devin Call in the final minute which gave Tusculum a 63-52 lead.
Catawba whittled the deficit to five on two free throws by Martin and a putback by Vismantas Marijosius, the latter leaving Tusculum's lead at 62-57 with 31 seconds to go. The Indians would get within four twice and pull within three at 66-63 on a layup by Edwards with three seconds left, but Flynn connected on his final two free throws of the day to close the scoring.
The Indians held their only lead of the day at 2-0 on a jumper by Julian Sampah on the opening possession of the game, and the Pioneers built a 12-6 edge on a pair of putbacks by JD Miller and a jumper by Flynn.
A Nick Spinks bucket gave Tusculum a double-digit lead at 18-8 with 7:44 left in the first half, and the Pioneers would lead by as many as 16 before taking a 32-19 lead to halftime. Flynn led all players with 11 points in the first half while Little and Sampah had eight points apiece to account for 16 of the Indians' 19 points in the half.
Call set season and career highs with 13 points and four steals for the Pioneers, while Miller had seven points and tied his career best with six rebounds in 28 minutes. Spinks also set a career high for rebounds with six to share the team high with Miller, and Anton Tuz also equaled his career best in boards with a season-high five in 13 minutes off the bench.
As a team, Tusculum finished the game with a 46-44 edge on the glass over Catawba. The Indians were just 4-for-23 from three-point range, while the Pioneers hit two of their seven attempts from beyond the arc.
Tusculum will play its next three games at home, beginning Wednesday at 8 p.m. against SAC co-leader Anderson at Pioneer Arena.
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