Eagles Salisbury bound to face Piedmont-leading Indians
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After taking on the first-place team in the Mountain Division Wednesday, Carson-Newman (11-10, 5-6 South Atlantic Conference) gets a crack at the top team in the Piedmont Division Saturday.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
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34 | 44 | 78 |
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52 | 34 | 86 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After taking on the first-place team in the Mountain Division Wednesday, Carson-Newman (11-10, 5-6 South Atlantic Conference) gets a crack at the top team in the Piedmont Division Saturday.
The Eagles tip with Catawba (14-5, 9-2 SAC) at 4 p.m. from Salisbury, N.C.'s Goodman Gym.
After closing out 2022 with eight straight road victories, the second this century the Eagles had won eight games in consecutive fashion away from Holt Fieldhouse, Carson-Newman will be angling to put a halt to a four-game road losing streak. The Eagles are winless away from Holt Fieldhouse in 2023.
Carson-Newman is going for a fifth straight win in its series with the Indians, something that has never occurred in the previous 71 meetings in the series history.
Bryant Thomas is the ultimate shot-stopper. Carson-Newman's single-game, single-season and career record-holder for blocks now sits on 172. He has the fourth most blocked shots among active players in NCAA Division II. Thomas leads the league this season with 2.1 rejections per game and is top 15 in the country in blocks per game in that regard.
Thomas can start moving up the SAC record book for rejections. Three rejections will move him into the top-10 all-time in SAC history with Chris Wooddridge (Catawba, 2003-07). Jeff Parker (Wingate 2010-14) sits in ninth on the league's all-time list with 181.
With 1,021 career points, senior guard Luke Brenegan will look to begin moving up the program's all-time scoring list. Just six points would put him past Ishmail Simmons (1027) and into 37th place on the all-time scoring charts. He needs 18 points to catch former teammate Tripp Davis for 36th on the all-time list.
Carson-Newman will try to put the month of January in the rearview mirror. After starting the season 10-2 (tied for the best start by a Carson-Newman team under Chuck Benson), the Eagles suffered through their worst month of basketball under Benson (1-6). Carson-Newman shot 48.3 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three en route to averaging 81.9 points per game in December. In January, those numbers plummeted to 39.9 percent from the field, 30.6 percent from three and 63.0 points per game.
Catawba provides a different kind of defensive challenge compared to most teams in the South Atlantic Conference. The Indians force a league-best 17.9 turnovers per game and their +4.1 turnover margin per game is tops in the league and 17th in the country. The Indians are second in the country with 11.1 steals per game. They have a whopping 13 double-digit steal performances, including three games of 15 or more (Belmont Abbey, Erskine and Anderson - all wins).
Catawba's Javeon Jones leads the country in both steals per game and total steals with 3.16 and 60, respectively. He has produced five games this season where he has at least five steals. Jones only has four games this year where he hasn't had multiple steals.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Indians is set for 4 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
Team Stats
Catawba
| Game Statistics | Carson-Newman | Catawba |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (31-63) | (28-66) |
| Field Goal % | 49.2% | 42.4% |
| Rebounds | 44 | 37 |
| Assists | 12 | 15 |
| Turnovers | 21 | 13 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 16 | 26 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 18 | 14 |
| Pts in the Paint | 48 | 28 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 11 | 8 |
| Bench Pts | 50 | 38 |
