SALISBURY, N.C. - Brevard was unable to pick up a victory in its final road contest of the year despite the fourth 30-point effort of the season from Demarcus Threatt.
The junior guard played all 40 minutes in the 85-74 Catawba (11-15, 9-11 SAC) victory, connecting on a season-best 10 of 12 free throw attempts and nine of his 19 shots from the field to lead all scorers. He also notched a career-high seven rebounds to lead the Tornados.
Threatt's supporting cast struggled on Saturday afternoon, however, with Omar El Diraoui the only other double-digit scorer. El Diraoui continued a recent resurgence, scoring at least nine points for the fourth time in the last six contests and contributing five rebounds to tie for second on the team.
The Tornados (5-21, 4-16 SAC) fell behind early as Catawba scored the game's first eight points, but the Indians were unable to maintain their advantage for long. Brevard tied the game on a Threatt triple eight minutes in and took the lead on its next possession. The Tornados reached their largest lead at the 8:46 mark of the half, building a six-point advantage on an El Diraoui jumper that capped a 20-6 run.
Catawba chipped away at the lead until the hosts regained an advantage they would not relinquish five minutes later. Past the midway point of the second half, Catawba's lead only dipped below 10 points on two occasions, including when Evan Dunham knocked down a 15-foot jumper to draw the Tornados within five points inside the final minute. The Tornados would get no closer, however, as the Indians made all six of their free throws down the stretch to reach their 11-point margin.
Catawba was paced by 27 points from Jameel Taylor and 16 off the bench from Rakeen Brown. Julian Sampah notched 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. While Brevard improved its accuracy from the field by 17 percentage points to 46.7 percent in the second half, the Indians were 56.0 percent (14-for-25) from the field over the final 20 minutes to reach 48.1 percent for the game.
Catawba outpaced Brevard 32-24 in the paint and led 29-19 in bench points, with Brown and El Diraoui providing the majority of the bench support. Threatt and Moe each tallied three assists for Brevard, while Threatt led all players with three steals.
Brevard returns to Boshamer Gymnasium for its final two games of the season beginning with a Wednesday matchup with Carson-Newman. Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m.
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