SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's basketball team returns to Goodman Arena on Wednesday for a non-conference clash with Young Harris at 7:30 p.m.
Season Opener Win
- The 2024-25 season started with a bang as Catawba took down Lander, 97-96, in a high-flying matchup between two programs that were receiving votes in the preseason national poll
- Down nine points with 38 seconds to go, the Catawba Indians used second-chance points and free throws to sprint past the Bearcats with a 10-1 run
- Nick Walker grabbed eight offensive rebounds, one that resulted in a late and-one conversion, while scoring 15 points in a double-double performance
- Kris Robinson paced the blue and white with 18 points as Justin Banks tallied 17 while logging eight boards, including the exclamation-point, put-back dunk that sealed it with one second left
SportsCenter Top Play
- Banks' game-winning slam was featured on ESPN in Saturday morning's SportsCenter Top 10, being featured as the No. 1 play
- Did you know: the viral 2011 clip featuring former Catawba head football coach and then-Coastal Carolina coach David Bennett giving his "dogs and cats" speech – broadcast on SportsCenter and multiple ESPN talk shows – was leading up to the Chanticleers' game against Catawba
Big Weekend for Walker
- In his first two games as a Catawba Indian, Walker averaged double figures in both scoring (13.5 points) and rebounding (10.5)
- Walker's 6.0 offensive boards per game is the third-best mark in Division II as both his offensive and overall values top the South Atlantic Conference
- The Hattiesburg, Miss. product has been the squad's most efficient shooter at 13-for-17 from the field
Ball Hawk J-Hawk
- Jashaun Hawkins stripped the rock away from USC Aiken six times on Sunday, becoming the 20th player in Catawba history to record at least six steals in a game
- The junior forward came off the bench to finish second in scoring with 17 points, going 3-of-5 from three-point range
- At Cleveland Community College last year, Hawkins bagged 34 steals, averaged 20.2 points per game, and shot 34.5 percent from distance
Pfeiffer Connection
- Both head coaches spent time at nearby Pfeiffer University
- Rob Perron led the Falcons in two separate stints, his first as an assistant from 1999-2002 before he returned to be associate head coach for the 2005-06 season
- YHC's Jeremy Currier spent 2008-18 at Pfeiffer, filling the top assistant position for the first two seasons before an eight-year run at the helm
All-Time Series
- The programs have squared off three times in a series that dates back to 1928, one that Catawba leads 3-0
- At Goodman Arena, Catawba took a 94-88 victory over the Mountain Lions in their last meeting on Nov. 23, 2019
- In the third game of 2018-19, YHC took an 85-67 loss on home court
- The initial meeting occurred at an unknown time on an unknown date in 1928, when YHC was a junior college and Catawba had just moved to Salisbury three years prior; Catawba won, 36-21
Scouting the Mountain Lions
- Young Harris went 1-1 in its opening-week slate, defeating Georgia College before suffering a three-point loss to North Georgia
- Back in October, the Mountain Lions battled Louisville in an exhibition in front of nearly 11,000 fans at the KFC Yum! Center
- Through two games, defending All-Conference Carolinas First Team and Comeback Player of the Year selection Carl Cleveland is averaging 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds
- Karl Chavis has netted 15.5 points per game while slinging out a team-high six assists
- Hayesville, N.C. native Kolbe Ashe has drilled six of his 10 three-point attempts with 5.0 boards per contest
Follow Along
The game will be broadcast on FloSports ($) with live stats available on CatawbaAthletics.com.
