GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- KJ Arrington scored 16 points, including a critical jumper with 27.5 seconds remaining as Catawba College held on for an 81-75 South Atlantic Conference win at Tusculum College Monday night in men's basketball action from Pioneer Arena.
The Catawba Indians (5-3, 3-2 SAC) remained undefeated on the road this season (3-0) and evens the all-time series with the Pioneers at 19-19.
Catawba's Jerrin Morrison led all scorers with 22 points off the bench while Arrington contributed a team-high nine rebounds to go along with four steals. Rakeen Brown added 15 points, while Troy Warren posted a dozen markers and seven boards in the victory.
Tusculum sophomore Chase Mounce posted his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore guard Zach Davis recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-best 12 boards. Sophomore Cory Fagan added 11 points, including a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe as he has connected on all 21 of his free throw attempts this season.
The Pioneers (1-8, 1-4 SAC) jumped out to a 9-2 lead to start the game, including a three-point play by freshman Gunnar Beamer three minutes into the contest.
With TC leading 19-14 following a Taylor Hatfield three-pointer at the 11:26 mark, the Indians went on a 9-0 spurt over a three-minute span, which was capped off by a steal and layup by Arrington as Catawba led for the first time at 23-19 with 8:26 remaining in the half.
The visitors extended the lead to seven points at 29-22 following an Arrington steal and dunk followed and a trey from Reggie Perkins at the 5:28 mark of the period for his only points of the contest.
Catawba took its largest lead of the night at 43-32 with 1:47 to go in the half thanks to a 7-0 run that included an Arrington three-pointer and baskets by Brown and Morrison.
Tusculum fought back with five straight points to close out the half, including back-to-back baskets from Mounce as Catawba's lead was trimmed to 43-37 at the intermission.
TC extended the run into the second half as junior Matt Shown converted a three-point play to get things started and Davis made a layup as the Pioneers trailed 43-42 with 18:32 left in the game.
Catawba responded with a 6-0 run to lead 49-42 following a Brown trifecta with 16:21 left on the clock.
Mounce and junior Javon Price made consecutive layups to bring Tusculum to within three points at 49-46, but the Indians would answered with an 8-2 spurt to take their advantage to nine points at 57-48 with 12:08 remaining.
Morrison canned a pair of baskets to give Catawba a 61-53 lead with 10:33 left in the game. TC would answer with a flurry and a 10-3 run with Davis' three-point play with 5:36 remaining as the Indians led 64-63.
Following a Catawba timeout, the Indians scored four in a row with a Morrison basket and two free throws from Arrington as the visitors led 68-63 with 4:48 to go. But 12 seconds later, Fagan was fouled while shooting a three-pointer as he went to the line and made all three of his free throws as the Pioneers trailed 68-66.
Morrison answered with a basket on Catawba's next passion and Fagan made two free throws as Catawba led 70-68 with 3:52 remaining.
Ben Sealey buried his second 3-pointer of the contest on Catawba's next possession and after a missed TC shot, Troy Warren followed with a fast-break bucket as the Indians led 75-68 with 2:56 remaining.
Price hit a three-pointer for the Pioneers with 2:43 remaining and it looked like TC had the momentum as the defense came up with a steal. But Tusculum would turn the ball over as Brown made a layup to give Catawba a 77-71 lead with 1:56 remaining on the scoreboard.
Mounce posted a layup and was fouled on his defensive rebound with 1:16 to go. He would make one of two free throws to trim the deficit to 77-74.
Mounce picked up his fifth foul with 57.1 seconds left and send Warren to the line as he made one of two free throws as Catawba led by four (78-74). Davis was fouled hard on TC's next possession as he made one of his two free throws to make it a 78-75 game with 45 seconds left.
Seventeen (17) seconds into its possession, Arrington buried a 16-foot jumper to extend the lead to 80-75 with 27.5 seconds to go. TC got off four shots on its last possession, but came up empty on each.
Catawba shot 44.6 percent for the game, while Tusculum fired 43.1 percent from the floor. TC shot 21-of-28 from the free throw line for 75 percent and out-rebounding the Indians by a 40-38 margin. The two teams were tied in points in the paint (36-36), but the Indians converted 16 TC turnovers into 19 points, while Catawba only made eight miscues on the evening.
Tusculum will close out the pre-holiday portion of its schedule on Wednesday when the Pioneers travel to Bluefield State College for a 7 p.m. contest.
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