GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The Catawba College men's basketball team heads to the Volunteer State this weekend for a Saturday night South Atlantic Conference clash against Tusculum at Pioneer Arena.

Comeback Winner
- Despite trailing in a neck-and-neck battle for most of the game, the Catawba Indians usurped the Chowan Hawks late in the second half to corral a 71-68 non-conference win
- The victory lifted Catawba to 5-2 on the year with an unblemished 3-0 clip at Goodman Arena
- Nick Walker pounded to a 20-point performance, going 6-for-6 at the line, with six rebounds and two steals
- The twins of Carson Daniel and Chase Daniel combined for a stellar all-around night with 15 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and nine steals
- Head coach Rob Perron discussed the importance of winning the margins in the postgame press conference, doing so 23-14 in points from turnovers, 44-26 in the paint, and 18-10 in second-chance scoring

Making the Free Ones
- Catawba ranks fourth in the nation with an 80.9% success rate at the charity stripe, trailing three out-of-region programs
- The next-highest in-region team on the national leaderboard is Barton, slotting 24th at 78.1 – nearly three percent lower than the Catawba Indians
- The points margin at the free-throw line has dictated the winner in Catawba's last three contests with Tuesday's victory featuring a vital 19-13 gap at the stripe
- Catawba has shot 75% or better on free throws in five straight games, the longest streak since the 2021-22 campaign

All-Time Series
- The blue and white hold a slight lead in their series against Tusculum by a 30-26 margin
- Action between the two programs dates back to the 1970-71 season in which Catawba took the first meeting, 120-82
- However, the Pioneers have been more successful on home court as Tusculum boasts a 14-11 advantage in Volunteer State matchups
- Catawba has taken three of the last four meetings, including a sweep of last year's home-and-home with Tusculum as both contests saw TU fall by double digits

Scouting the Pioneers
- Tusculum enters Saturday a tick below .500, going 4-5 thus far with a rough start to SAC play at 1-3
- The Pioneers' lone conference win was decided in the final moments as Denaj Kimber banked in a mid-range basket to defeat Coker, 70-68, on Nov. 29
- Since hitting December, TU walloped USCAA program The Crown College on Education Day, lost to Wingate (85-74), fell to Division I East Tennessee State in an exhibition (78-62), and suffered a blackout-game setback to Carson-Newman (100-73)
- Graduate student Bryce Jackson leads the way with 15.3 points and 3.0 assists per game, while TJ Printup has excelled on the defensive end with team highs of 5.1 boards, 2.1 steals and 1.3 blocks per tilt in addition to his 10.3-point scoring average

Follow Along
- All South Atlantic Conference games are broadcast live on FloCollege
- An audio-only stream will be provided on WSMG-FM with online access at jewel955.com
- Live stats will be available at tusculumstats.statbroadcast.com