Eagles Beat Indians 62-60
December 7, 2013

Eagles Beat Indians 62-60

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (6-1, 3-1 South Atlantic Conference) men’s basketball team defeated the Catawba Indians (1-6, 1-3 South Atlantic Conference) by a score of 62-60 at Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday evening.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (6-1, 3-1 South Atlantic Conference) men's basketball team defeated the Catawba Indians (1-6, 1-3 South Atlantic Conference) by a score of 62-60 at Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday evening.

The Eagles withstood a late second half rally by the Indians, as a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Catawba's Reggie Perkins missed with two seconds remaining and Carson-Newman freshman Sawyer Williams (Owenton, Ky.) grabbed the game-winning rebound to secure the two-point victory.

"Catawba has always been a tough challenge for us," said Carson-Newman head coach Chuck Benson. "What nobody knew is that Ish Sanders had not practiced all week, Kevin Leatherwood has practiced only in non-contact, Antoine Davis got hurt yesterday in practice, and had major stiffness in his neck coming into today's game. So between that and the fact that Catawba is talented,  we knew it was going to be a tough one and I was pretty proud of our kids because they stepped up and tried to make some things happen."

Despite not scoring in the first half, the Eagles were led by the 16 points of senior Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) as he also led C-N by making a pair of 3-pointers. Davis was joined in double-figure scoring by the 14 points of both sophomore Josh Rogers (Bristol, U.K.) and junior Jared Johnson (Springfield, Mass.), as well as the 10 points of senior Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.)

The first half was a low-scoring affair, with Carson-Newman leading Catawba 30-20 at the break. The 30 points scored by the Eagles were the lowest C-N had scored in a first half all season, and the Eagles were 12-for-31 shooting from the field (39 percent) in the first 20 minutes, with Rogers and Johnson leading the way with 10 points each.

The scoring picked up for both teams in the second half. Davis started to find his shot for Carson-Newman, and he helped the Eagles build the lead to 51-38 with eight minutes left to play.

The Indians responded with a 14-4 run over the next three and a half minutes to cut Carson-Newman's lead to 55-52 with 5:31 left to go. Key in this run for Catawba were four 3-pointers, including three by Nick Houston.

The Eagles maintained control of the lead, and led 62-58 with 1:56 to play. With 47 seconds left, Catawba's Vismantas Marijosius hit a jumper to cut the lead to 62-60. The Eagles saw Davis miss a jump shot, and then after Williams' rebound, the freshman turned the ball over, giving the basketball to the Indians with 17 seconds to play. Williams redeemed himself by grabbing the game-winning rebound after the missed 3-pointer by Perkins to finish the game in a Carson-Newman victory.

Catawba was led in scoring by Tyrece Little and Kijuan Arrington, with both scoring 15 points and collecting double-doubles as Little had 11 rebounds while Arrington had 12. The double-double duo was joined in double-figures by Houston with his 12 points, all coming off his four 3-pointers.

Carson-Newman will next play on the road next Saturday Dec. 14 against the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears in Hickory, N.C. at 4 p.m.

Saturday's game will be carried on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station WPFT-FM 106.3 FM, with coverage beginning at 3:45 p.m. with "The Countdown to Tipoff," and live audio is also available on www.cneagles.com.

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