Catawba Tops Lenoir-Rhyne To Reach Finals Of SAC Men’s Basketball Tournament

HICKORY, N.C. -- The Catawba College men's basketball team took the lead early in the second half and never gave it back, obtaining a 79-68 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University in the semi-finals of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament Saturday evening at Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Complex.

With the victory, Catawba improves to 20-9 overall. Lenoir-Rhyne is 18-10 overall. The Catawba Indians will face either Newberry or Tusculum in Sunday's 4 p.m. championship contest. Catawba, the fourth seed, will be playing in the tournament finals for the third consecutive year.

The LRU Bears will await word for an at-large berth in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional tournament. The NCAA will announce bids Sunday night.

Catawba sophomore guard Dominick Reid (Charlotte, N.C.) led all scorers with 23 points. The 5-10 Cannon School product added seven rebounds as Catawba won the rebounding battle 50-25. Reid had 14 points in the pivotal second half.

Catawba's Antonio Houston goes up for a dunk against Lenoir-Rhyne during Saturday's Food Lion SAC Tournament semifinal game. Photo by Mike Slade.

Indian All-SAC performer Antonio Houston (Charlotte, N.C.) had 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while junior forward Donald Rutherford (Morganton, N.C.) posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards. Thanks to the efforts of Rutherford and the Catawba reserves, the Indians held a 24-8 advantage in bench points.

For Lenoir-Rhyne, junior guard Marcus Hodges (Wake Forest, N.C.) had 20 points. Hodges hit six-of-nine field goals and five-of-six from beyond the three-point line. All-SAC standout Elliott McDowell (Canton, N.C.) recorded 18 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists in his final SAC tourney appearance. All-SAC guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.) contributed 13 points, four steals and three assists.

In the second stanza, Catawba senior forward Isaac Rose (Jonesville, N.C.) hit a jumper at the 14:51 mark to give the Indians a 48-46 advantage. Rose's hoop broke the seventh (and final) tie of the contest. Catawba shot a sizzling 58.3 percent after intermission (21-of-36), while Lenoir-Rhyne hit 41.4 percent of its second half field goal attempts (12-of-29).

A Rutherford basket helped Catawba build its lead to 53-47 with 13:15 remaining in the game. Rutherford made another field goal at the 9:26 plateau, pushing the Indians' edge to 64-56. Catawba senior center Cliff Burns (Cooleemee, N.C.) converted a jumper in the paint to put the Indians up 72-61 with 4:47 to go. Catawba led by as many as 13 points in the waning moments.

Lenoir-Rhyne hit only four field goals in the final 10 minutes of the contest. Catawba had 20 points in the same time span to pull away for the victory. Five different Indians contributed points in the 10-minute stretch, with Reid putting down seven of Catawba's last 20 markers.

Catawba doubled up Lenoir-Rhyne on the glass, recording a 50-25 rebounding advantage. Rutherford's 11 caroms led the way. Both Houston and Reid had seven rebounds each for the victors. McDowell led Lenoir-Rhyne with his six boards.

QUOTES
Catawba head coach Jim Baker

I am proud of the way we came out and played. It's such a big rivalry when we play Lenoir-Rhyne. I'd rather play anyone than Lenoir-Rhyne. I thought we brought it tonight. It was a very good performance for us.

We got 50 rebounds, Lenoir-Rhyne got 25. We shot 50 percent and still got 20 offensive rebounds. That's pretty big. There were only 34 misses, and we got our hands on 20 of them.

(On Catawba's success in the tournament held at the Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Facility) I like playing here. We didn't come to shootaround. We just come and play. The building has Catawba in the name, so its sort of like our house.

Catawba player Antonio Houston

We always come together at the end of the year. Right now, we're peaking at the right time.

Lenoir-Rhyne head coach John Lentz

They played harder than we did. I think that's the worst my team's played in three or four years. I don't have an answer for it. We just didn't play well.

Their guards had 15 of the 20 offensive rebounds. You know what their explanation was? 'It wasn't my guy.' Well, it had to be somebody's.

CATAWBA MEN 79, LENOIR-RHYNE 68
CATAWBA (20-9 overall)
Reid, Dominick 10-19 1-1 23; Houston, Antonio 8-15 0-0 19; Rutherford, Donald 6-9 4-5 16; Fields, Rob 4-10 0-0 8; Rose, Isaac 3-7 1-1 7; Burns, Cliff 3-7 0-0 6; Huntley, Justin 0-0 0-0 0; Shoemaker, Trey 0-0 0-0 0; Magnusson, Finnur 0-0 0-0 0; Williams, Donzell 0-1 0-0 0; Sossamon, Matthew 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-68 6-7 79.
LENOIR-RHYNE (18-10 overall)
Hodges, Marcus 6-9 3-4 20; McDowell, Elliott 7-19 4-5 18; Rudder, Josh 4-9 4-4 13; Blackmon, D.J. 3-14 1-2 7; Powell, Julius 0-1 3-4 3; Crawford, Ryan 1-1 1-2 3; Watson, Donte 1-1 0-0 2; Thomas, Jeff 1-4 0-0 2; Shaw, Nathaniel 0-1 0-0 0; Davis, Ja'Wan 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 16-21 68.
Catawba....................... 33 46 - 79
Lenoir-Rhyne.................. 35 33 - 68
3-point goals--Catawba 5-16 (Houston, Antonio 3-7; Reid, Dominick 2-7; Fields, Rob 0-1; Rose, Isaac 0-1), Lenoir-Rhyne 6-15 (Hodges, Marcus 5-6; Rudder, Josh 1-2; Blackmon, D.J. 0-1; Davis, Ja'Wan 0-1; McDowell, Elliott 0-5). Fouled out--Catawba-None, Lenoir-Rhyne-None. Rebounds--Catawba 50 (Rutherford, Donald 11), Lenoir-Rhyne 25 (McDowell, Elliott 6). Assists--Catawba 14 (Houston, Antonio 4), Lenoir-Rhyne 11 (McDowell, Elliott 3; Rudder, Josh 3). Total fouls--Catawba 20, Lenoir-Rhyne 13. Technical fouls--Catawba-None, Lenoir-Rhyne-None. A-699
2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament, semi-final game #1