BREVARD, N.C. - Catawba avenged a 12-point January loss on its home floor Saturday as the Indians defeated Brevard 99-79 on Senior Day in a crucial game for both teams' SAC Tournament hopes.
Brevard (10-15, 8-11 SAC) now sits in ninth place in the South Atlantic Conference standings, one-half game back of Anderson for the eighth and final tournament berth. The Trojans are idle until Wednesday, while the Tornados must face No. 5 Lincoln Memorial on Monday night before closing out the regular season with two games away from Boshamer Gymnasium.
The Tornados and Indians (14-12, 11-9 SAC) went back and forth in a tightly contested first ten minutes, with a three-pointer by Catawba's Jameel Taylor representing the game's seventh lead change. It would be the last. Taylor's triple sparked a 14-2 Catawba run over the next 3:12 as the Indians broke open a game that neither team had led by more than a possession.
Brevard scored seven straight points over a two-minute span to cut the lead to 39-37 with 2:08 remaining, but Catawba responded by ending the half on a 7-1 run to break ahead by eight points at the half.
Miles Leathers, who finished with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, trimmed the lead back to six points on Brevard's first possession of the second stanza. Catawba responded by opening up a 60-40 advantage over the next five minutes, taking advantage of a string of seven consecutive Brevard possessions without a point while going 5-for-9 from the field with four triples.
Brevard struggled to gain ground on the Indians, who shot 52.5 percent from the floor despite coming into the game with the nation's 265th-best field goal percentage, for most of the rest of the half. A brief 15-5 spurt that saw Brevard knock down all but one of its six field goal tries gave the Tornados hope late in the game. But Catawba used another Taylor three-point field goal to spark a 12-3 run that slammed the door on the potential comeback.
Darius Moose led the Tornados with 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting, setting a season high for field goal percentage. Shaw was close behind with 18 points, seven rebounds, and the first dunk of his college career on a thunderous slam on a hard drive into the lane through traffic in the second half. The duo teamed with Leathers to give Brevard three players who topped 16 points.
Catawba countered with three players scoring over 20 points, led by second team preseason all-conference selection K.J. Arrington's 26. Arrington scored 29 points in Brevard's 87-75 victory in Salisbury last month. Vismantas Marijosius and Jameel Taylor each scored 21 points, while Marijosius was the game's leading rebounder with eight.
Brevard outdueled the Indians 36-24 in the paint, but Catawba reached the free throw line 12 more times and held a 38-25 edge in rebounds. Alex Moe tied his season high with four assists and was one of five Tornados to knock down two triples as Brevard was 10-of-21 from beyond the arc.
The Tornados host No. 5 Lincoln Memorial in the season's final home game on Monday night, a contest that will be broadcast locally on WMYA My40. Brevard then closes the regular season with contests at Mars Hill and Wingate.
Featured image courtesy of Tommy Moss.
