Athie’s double-double lifts Men’s Basketball over Coker

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Ibra Athie set career bests in points and rebounds as the Catawba College men's basketball team handcuffed Coker's high-scoring offense, collecting a 93-86 road win in South Atlantic Conference action on Wednesday evening.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba (10-6, 7-5 SAC) leveraged a strong post game to hit 54.0 percent of its field goals while Coker (11-4, 7-4 SAC) shot a below-average 44.1 percent

- The Cobras led 29.0-16.7 in three-point percentage; nearly half of their heaves came from beyond the arc, resulting in the 22 misses hampering efficiency on offense

- At the free-throw line, Coker landed 77.3 percent as Catawba swished 71.9 percent, but the blue and white got to the charity stripe more often by a 32-22 margin

- The Catawba Indians out-rebounded the hosts 41-33 to possess a small 13-11 edge in second-chance points

- Entering 20th in the nation with 10.6 steals per game, Coker only got four swipes as Catawba posted seven after coming in eighth at 11.9

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Athie drained nine field goals for 23 points while grabbing 14 rebounds including five on the offensive glass

- Another efficient performance from Solomon Tucker featured a season-high 18 points with seven boards and two blocks

- Nick Walker also recorded 18 points and seven rebounds, dishing out two assists and stripping away two steals with a team-high plus/minus of +12

- Kris Robinson nailed two three-pointers and went 7-for-9 on free throws, compiling 13 points with five rebounds

- Montraivis White racked up a team-best four assists with two steals and three boards in a nine-point outing

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- Tucker accounted for three of the visitors' first four scores in a back-and-forth start, reaching 14-14 thanks to quick buckets from Walker and White ahead of the under-12 media timeout

- Walker began to heat up with five points in a three-minute span mere seconds before Xavier Harris converted a three-point play and Robinson dropped a three-ball to cancel it out

- Tied at 39 with 2:50 to go, Xavier Moultrie drew a foul and hit two free throws before sinking a triple to lift Coker to its largest lead of five points

- Catawba stormed back, closing the period with two Athie layups to send the game to halftime knotted at 46-46

Second Half

- A highly-contested start to the final 20 minutes saw Max Hurray put in a second-chance jumper for a 53-50 edge at the first media timeout

- Chase Daniel, Tucker, and Athie chipped in baskets out of the break as Athie tallied two more to even the score at 61

- Separated by a maximum of four points, the squads continued to be neck-and-neck until Catawba got the upper hand with an 81-77 lead inside the three-minute mark

- The blue and white held a one-possession advantage until Robinson drained a bucket from long range with 32 seconds left, making it a six-point deficit for Coker

- Multiple missed shots by the Coker offense while Catawba went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe helped the blue and white pocket a double-digit lead, but Bynum's three in the final seconds closed out proceedings at 93-86

UP NEXT

Catawba stays on the road, traveling to Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, Jan. 18 for a 4 p.m. tip.