Men’s Basketball wins rivalry game against Livingstone, 88-78

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's basketball team defended the north side of Salisbury on Monday night, triumphing 88-78 over Livingstone in the programs' first meeting in over a decade.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba (9-6) managed a slight lead in the shooting department, cracking the .500 mark for the fourth time this season with a 54.2 percent outing against Livingstone's (8-8) 52.7 percent performance

- From beyond the arc, Catawba let it fly 18 times and drilled seven for a 38.9 percent clip while the Blue Bears had a 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) night from three-point land

- The foes got to the free-throw line at similar rates, but Livingstone led the category by a 69.6-68.0 percent margin

- The blue and white dominated the rebounding battle, finishing with a sound 36-27 advantage as Catawba refused to allow Livingstone an offensive board in the first half

- The Blue Bears were cleaner on offense with 13 turnovers while Catawba coughed up the ball 15 times, nearly half of its turnovers being self-inflicted as seven did not include a Livingstone steal

- Catawba led the contest in points off turnovers (17-14), second chances (10-2), fast breaks (13-4), from the bench (36-15), and in the paint (44-36)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Kris Robinson piled on 18 points for the second straight affair thanks to a potent 5-for-9 day from downtown; the senior guard also added four assists and a pair of steals

- Ibra Athie recorded a double-double in 25 minutes off the bench with 16 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 5-for-7 from the field and 6-for-9 at the charity stripe

- Nick Walker notched six buckets for 12 points with seven rebounds to go with two takeaways

- Rounding out the double-figure scorers with 10 points, Solomon Tucker went 3-for-3 from the floor to raise his field goal percentage to 71.0 percent while chipping in five boards and two steals

- Zion McDuffie swatted two Blue Bear shots for the second time in his career while Montraivis White tallied a team-high five assists in six-point outings for both sophomores

- Jalen Hilliard doubled his career high in scoring with nine points and the squad's highest point differential of +15

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- White swished two triples in the early going to lift Catawba ahead 7-4 with just over two minutes gone, but Jamal Cannady Jr. and King Ijeoma each collected their second basket to momentarily grasp an 8-7 advantage

- The Catawba Indians outscored Livingstone 16-7 over the course of the ensuing six minutes, highlighted by an alley-oop thrown down by Athie from a lob tossed by White

- A second slam came from Tucker with 5:30 left in the half, shortly before Chase Daniel found Robinson on the perimeter for a three that upped the Catawba lead to 38-24

- Hilliard converted a three-point play around the final media timeout and O'Mazeon Tinsley netted four points in the waning moments of the period, helping secure a 47-34 gap at the break

Second Half

- Robinson sank his third trey to extend the blue and white edge to 16, but a couple of free throws and a Jamie Lewis pull-up jumper allowed Livingstone to start chipping away

- Cannady hit three consecutive shots, but went blow-for-blow with the Catawba offensive attack which kept the Blue Bears at bay

- Eight points from Athie in less than five minutes preceded a four-point play for Robinson who was fouled as he swished a three in the corner

- Daniel nailed driving layups on back-to-back possessions late in the contest, earning an and-one on the latter basket to reach an 18-point lead for a second time

- Livingstone collected the matchup's last eight points, but failed to overcome the looming deficit as Catawba snapped a two-game skid in the programs' 20-game series

UP NEXT

The Catawba Indians travel to the Palmetto State on Wednesday, Jan. 15 for a midweek South Atlantic Conference matchup against nationally-ranked Coker.