SALISBURY, N.C. — The Catawba College men's basketball team won its fourth straight home opener in convincing fashion, posting a 90-52 domination of USC Aiken at Goodman Arena on Sunday afternoon.

TEAM STATS
- The Catawba Indians (1-1) shot similarly well in both halves for a 56.1% final clip, while USC Aiken (1-1) had a mediocre first period shooting-wise before enduring a 4-for-30 second half in a 25.4% day overall
- Catawba swished a third of its 21 three-point attempts; the Pacers also made seven triples, but tossed up 29 total shots for a 24.1% success rate
- Neither team excelled at the charity stripe, although the blue and white remained above .500 with a 52.9%-45.8% advantage
- The hosts grabbed 58 rebounds – their best single-game total in at least 15 years – as USCA was held to 32 boards
- The Pacers took better care of the rock with 10 turnovers compared to Catawba's 17, but the Catawba Indians capitalized on USCA's miscues with a 20-12 lead in points off takeaways
- Catawba racked up seven blocks while none of its 66 field goal attempts were swatted

INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Leading a five-player group of double-figure scorers, LeVionne Lindsey sank a field goal on the opening possession en route to a 15-point performance
- Justin Banks recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds in addition to blocking a pair of Pacer shots
- Carson Daniel drained three long-range buckets for 11 points with a team-high eight assists, notching career bests in all three statistics
- The Daniel Duo – Carson and Chase Daniel – shared the team's top steals mark of three and were one-two in assists, combining for 14 dimes
- Ibra Athie and sixth man Zion McDuffie totaled 12 and 10 points, respectively, as McDuffie blocked three Pacer shots
- Freshmen Shawn Long and Dermot Lowry made their Catawba debuts; Long chipped in five points, two assists and a board in his first collegiate contest

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- After a back-and-forth three minutes, Banks bookended a three-point play by Lindsey with layups to create a multi-possession buffer at 11-4
- A nine-point gap at the under-12 media timeout was the last time Catawba held a single-digit lead as Long upped the score to 23-12 with a put-back basket, securing his first career points
- USCA kept pace with Catawba for a short period, scoring on three consecutive possessions highlighted by back-to-back field goals from Jonah Lawrence
- The Catawba Indians responded swiftly and loudly, ripping off a 10-0 run punctuated by the Daniel twins splashing consecutively from downtown
- However, the Pacers gained ground on Catawba with a 15-9 advantage in the final five minutes of the half which made it a 47-33 ledger heading into the locker room

Second Half
- Athie reopened proceedings buried a jumper assisted by Carson Daniel, who immediately got a steal that led to a Banks layup which provoked a stop-the-bleed timeout from USCA
- The gap remained in the range of 16-19 points until inside the 14-minute mark when Banks hit a mid-range jumper before the Daniel twins combined for a steal-and-score, swiped and assisted by Chase with a three-point dagger by Carson
- Midway through the period, the Catawba Indians claimed their largest lead of the contest yet at a 27-point, 69-42 separation
- Caleb Byrd made a second-chance triple moments later, but an eight-point Catawba burst capped by a Chase Daniel-to-Athie alley-oop that boosted the score to 77-45 all but sealed the Pacers' fate
- McDuffie threw down a head-tapper dunk to key another big run (11-1) late, allowing the hosts to hit cruise control and stuff a 90-52 vengeance win in the bag

NOTES
- USCA's 45.8% free-throw percentage is the lowest by a Catawba opponent since Dec. 7, 2022 when Coker went 5-for-11 (45.5%)
- The victory snaps Catawba's five-meeting losing streak against the Pacers that included three NCAA Tournament eliminations (2008-09, 2022-23, 2024-25)
- Dating back to last season, Catawba is 3-1 against opponents who are receiving votes but not ranked in the NABC Coaches Poll; the only loss was to USC Aiken in the regular season

UP NEXT
Catawba competes in the Clayton State Classic next weekend (Nov. 21-22), facing 16th-ranked Columbus State in neutral-site action on Friday before a Saturday matinee against the host Lakers at The Loch.