Eagles look for first three-game win streak of the season
January 30, 2015

Eagles look for first three-game win streak of the season

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (9-10, 7-6 South Atlantic Conference) will try to win back-to-back-to-back games for the first time this season when Catawba (8-10, 6-7 SAC) comes to Holt Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.

VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (9-10, 7-6 South Atlantic Conference) will try to win back-to-back-to-back games for the first time this season when Catawba (8-10, 6-7 SAC) comes to Holt Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon. 

The Indians won the first meeting this season 78-73 behind 21 points from Jerrin Morrison. 

Catawba boasts the league's second leading scorer in KJ Arrington (18.7 ppg). He has scored at least 20 points in six of the Indians' last seven games, including a pair of 30-point outbursts against Newberry and Mars Hill. Wingate limited him to 12 points, the same as the Eagles in the teams' first meeting.

"He's big, athletic and he's got the complete offensive package," Benson said. "Because of his athleticism and length, he can get the ball up above defenders to finish shots.  He is almost impossible to guard one-on-one."

Beyond Arrington, Catawba gets 16.3 points per game from Freshman of the Year candidate Jerrin Morrison. He's hitting 42 percent of his shots from the field and 45 percent of his threes.

The Indians feature the league's third best scoring offense behind Newberry and LMU at 78.3 points per game. The Indians' ball control is exceptional, with a league low 11.5 turnovers per contest.

The Indians have lost six straight road games dating back to a 81- 75 win at Tusculum Dec. 15.

Carson Brooks (Knoxville, Tenn.) has scored 20 points or more in three straight games for C-N, the longest such streak for an Eagle since Antoine Davis and Ish Sanders each had career-long five game spurts their senior seasons.

Carson-Newman has typically been inside-oriented under head coach Chuck Benson, however, that's reached a new level of late. The Eagles have outscored their opposition in the paint by at least 12 points in every game but one (Queens) since the calendar turned over to the New Year.

C-N has three Eagles in the top five in the league in field goal percentage in Brooks, Sawyer Williams (Owenton, Ky.) and Josh Rogers (Bristol, United Kingdom).

"All three are playing with a real high level of confidence," Benson said. "They've been real efficient in part, and this is a good thing, because they're being greedy.  They're greedy to get the ball and then do good things with it."

Tipoff between the Eagles and Indians is slated for 4 p.m. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.

 
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