Eagles stop skid, top Catawba 76-65

Carson-Newman (12-4, 5-3 SAC) used a 20-4 first half run to take a 20-point first half lead before the Eagles stiff-armed Catawba (5-11, 2-6 SAC) to a 76-65 wire-to-wire win Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse.

Catawba did make a second half push, trimming a 12-point halftime lead down to three on a few occasions, but Carson-Newman punched back with runs to push the lead back out to double digits each time.

“We punched them pretty good first half and I’m not sure they ever got completely settled,” Carson-Newman head men’s hoops coach Chuck Benson said. “We came out a little flat in the second half, but overall we made just enough stops and just enough baskets to pull out the win.”

Carson-Newman got 23 points from Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) and 18 from Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.). Davis was the one who drilled an uncontested three from the right wing to stop a 7-0 Indian run with 11:53 left in the second half and prevent Catawba from getting any closer than three points.

The Eagles forced 16 turnovers while only giving it away 11 times. Carson-Newman turned those turnovers into 26 points. The Eagles only failed to score after two of their takeaways.

“We knew they had some young players on the court and decided to go with the pressure on their young guards,” Benson said. “It paid off. We got good shots in the half court, we just weren’t hitting. So getting those TOs and turning them into points proved to be huge for us.”

The Eagles also connected on 17-of-21 free throws to ice the game late. Sanders hit five of his six free throws. Marcellous Perez (Jacksonville, N.C.) was an identical 5-of-6 from the line. Perez hit 3-of-4 foul shots in the final minute to keep the Indians at bay.

Lee Martin went for 11 points in the first half before the Eagles limited Martin to 1-for-7 shooting in the second half to finish with 16.

“We tried to crowd him and get clean looks. He made some tough shots in the first half. But we just wanted to be more deliberate in crowding him and prevent him from getting any space to get a ball off.”

Tyrece Little led the Indians with 17 on 7-for-13 shooting. Carson-Newman was held to 44 percent shooting from the field. It was just the second time this season the Eagles have won a game when shooting below 45 percent.

Carson-Newman hits the road for two in a row Wednesday against Brevard. The Eagles beat the Tornadoes 81-62 on Nov. 28. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m.; pregame coverage begins at 7:45 p.m. on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network with the Farm Bureau Countdown to Tipoff on 106.3 ESPN Radio The Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com.