WISE, Va. — The Catawba College men's basketball team gained intelligence and a victory over UVA Wise, 91-69, in the regular-season finale at David J. Prior Convocation Center on Saturday night. The foes will meet again next Thursday in the South Atlantic Conference Championship Tournament.
TEAM STATS
- Catawba (21-7, 16-6 SAC) shot a season-best 60.3% from the field compared to the 41.4% clip established by UVA Wise (20-10, 13-9 SAC)
- The Highland Cavaliers were frigid from long range, missing their first 13 three-pointers, before finishing at 2-for-17 (11.8%) while Catawba went 4-for-14 (28.6%) beyond the arc
- Catawba finished with a woeful 11-for-20 (55.0%) at the free-throw line, allowing UVA Wise to finish with advantages and efficiency at 19-for-26 (73.1%)
- After committing 10 of the contest's first 12 turnovers, the Catawba Indians cleaned up their game and wound up winning the takeaway battle 22-18
- The visitors led in both steals (16-13) and blocks (5-4) while the rebounding margin landed at an even 33-33
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Ibra Athie recorded his second 20-point performance of the season with seven rebounds
- Justin Banks went a blazing 6-for-7 from the floor with 15 points while adding five boards, four assists and a pair of blocks
- Zion McDuffie continued to be a spark plug, registering his sixth time in double figures coming off the bench with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting as well as two steals
- Chase Daniel got involved in various areas of the stat sheet, collecting 12 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and six assists
- Carson Daniel was the Catawba Indians' most prolific shot creator with seven assists while picking off the Cavs three times
NOTES
- Catawba's 38 field goals are its most in a non-overtime game since the 2023-24 season
- The blue and white have averaged 14.8 steals across their last six games
- 21 regular-season wins is a seven-year high for the program, tying the 2018-19 season for the best mark in the Rob Perron era
- This is the first time since 2018-19 that Catawba has played the same opponent in the regular-season finale and first round of conference playoffs; that year, the Catawba Indians defeated Anderson in both matchups
UP NEXT
Catawba enters next week's SAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, facing the sixth-seeded Highland Cavaliers in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, Mar. 5. Tipoff at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center is slated for 7:30 p.m.
