Men’s Basketball snaps SAC skid, knocks off previously unbeaten Wingate

Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College men's basketball team handed Wingate its first loss of South Atlantic Conference play on Wednesday night, snapping their three-game conference losing streak with a 91-80 in front of a red-out Goodman Arena crowd.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba shot 32-for-74 (43 percent), while Wingate was 23-of-54 (43 percent) from the floor

- The Catawba Indians were 7-for-21 (33 percent) from three-point range, while holding the Bulldogs to 5-of-19 (26 percent) from deep

- WU held an edge at the free throw line, shooting 29-of-34 (85 percent) from the charity stripe, while Catawba was also impressive, going 20-for-24 (83 percent)

- Each team grabbed 39 rebounds, but Catawba held a 16-10 edge in offensive boards, leading to an 18-11 advantage in second-chance points

- The Catawba Indians dished out 12 assists and matching a season-low with seven turnovers; Wingate recorded 11 assists to 16 turnovers, helping Catawba to a 17-7 edge in points off turnovers

- Catawba held leads in points in the paint (34-28) and bench points (23-9); the Bulldogs scored 22 fastbreak points to Catawba's 12

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Kris Robinson scored a game-high 22 points with four three-pointers

- Peyton Gerald added 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting with six boards and two steals

- O'Mazeon Tinsley chipped in 14 points and a team-high three assists

- Justin Mitchell scored 12 points and grabbed seven boards

- Dre Nelson stepped up for 11 points off the bench, including three triples

- Zion McDuffie logged career-highs of nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

- The first eight minutes was highly competitive, with neither team taking a multiple-possession lead until Gerald's layup put Catawba up 17-13 near the 12-minute mark

- Tinsley's layup capped a 14-0 Catawba run to turn a three-point deficit into a 24-13 lead near the midway point of the half

- Donell Nixon's jumper in the next possession broke a scoreless stretch of three and a half minutes for Wingate

- Nixon later nailed a three-pointer to cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 26-21 just under the eight-minute mark

- The Catawba Indians answered with a quick five unanswered points, as Justin Banks' dunk returned the lead to 10

- Four straight points from WU's Vontrez Roberts returned the Catawba lead to six at the 4:42 mark

- The Catawba Indians carried their mid-sized lead into the halftime locker room, leading 41-33 after 20 minutes

SECOND HALF

- A 7-0 Wingate run capped by Kendall Taylor's and-one brought the Bulldogs within two less than two minutes into the second half

- WU answered a Catawba basket with seven more unanswered points, making it a 14-2 run to take a 47-44 lead before the first media timeout

- The teams traded baskets until a pair of Robinson free throws returned the lead to Catawba at the 11:25 mark

- Taylor's 5-0 personal run swung the lead back in Wingate's favor, 61-57, with under 10 minutes to go

- Two Robinson three-pointers bookended an 8-0 Catawba run to take a four-point lead at the 8:24 mark

- McDuffie's layup capped another score-stop-score-stop-score sequence for the Catawba Indians, extending their run to 14-2 to take a 71-63 advantage under the seven-minute mark

- Catawba answered every Wingate basket with a counter-punch, taking its largest lead of the game, 82-71, with under four to go

- The Bulldogs wouldn't go away easily, however, cutting the deficit to seven points at the 2:03 mark

- The Catawba Indians held WU without a field goal for the final 67 seconds, sealing the bounce-back win with free throws down the stretch

UP NEXT

- Catawba takes its longest conference road trip of the season on Saturday, battling UVA Wise on the road in a 2023 SAC title game rematch at 4 p.m.