GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Nick Walker scored 19 points and recorded four steals to lead the Catawba Indians to a 76-68 South Atlantic Conference victory at Tusculum Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
Catawba (6-4, 4-3 SAC) limited the under-manned Pioneers (3-7, 3-3 SAC) to 39 percent shooting for the game including a chilling 8-of-30 (27%) in the opening half. The Catawba Indians, defending SAC Tournament Champions, used a key 9-0 run spanning the first and second halves to race out to a 16-point advantage (38-22) early in the final period.
Tusculum's Bryce Jackson led all players as he matched a career-high with his 26 points including 20 markers in the second half.
Tusculum managed to get back into the fray using a 14-2 run over span of 3:41 including nine straight points as the once 16-point deficit was whittled down to 53-50 with 9:05 left in the game. The TU was sparked by eight points from Jackson and a pair of three-pointers from freshman Denaj Timber.
The Pioneers got the ball back on a shot clock violation with a chance to tie the game. But Walker came up with a key steal and Kris Robinson buried the first of three straight 3-pointers. Jackson and Akeem Odusipe kept pace with back-to-back layups. Walker converted a pair of free throws before Odusipe hit another bucket as TU trailed 61-56 with 7:17 left.
But Robinson's third triple in a row pushed the lead back to eight at 64-56 with 7:08 on the clock.
Odusipe would make one of two free throws and Josiah Morris got an offensive rebound and layup to make the score 64-59 in favor of Catawba. The Tusculum defense forced a missed shot and a turnover and Taj Kimber drained a perimeter jumper to trim the deficit to 64-61 with 5:36 remaining.
Catawba responded with a 10-3 run including five unanswered points thanks to six points from Solomon Tucker and a Caleb Jones dunk as the Catawba Indians led 74-64 with 53 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.
Robinson finished with 11 points and six rebounds, while Tucker was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor for his 10 points off the bench.
TU's Malachi Hale and Denaj Kimber each posted 10 points, while Odusipe recorded nine points and a career-high 15 rebounds including six offensive boards. Morris scored seven and Taj Kimber added six points and a season-high four assists.
The Catawba Indians shot 29-of-62 from the floor for 47 percent including 16-of-30 in the second half (53%). Catawba went 14-of-19 from the free throw line for 74 percent including 10-of-13 in the second period. The visitors out-rebounded TU by a 44-36 margin and the Catawba Indians also held a 38-7 advantage in bench scoring and a 46-24 edge in points in the paint.
Tusculum has its four-game home winning streak snapped dating back to last year and suffers its first home loss to Catawba since 2019.
The Pioneers will be on the road this Saturday when they face 17th-ranked and conference-leading Coker University for a 5 p.m. contest in Hartsville, South Carolina.
