Halftime swoon proves difference maker, Catawba beats C-N 71-56
January 23, 2026

Halftime swoon proves difference maker, Catawba beats C-N 71-56

SALISBURY, N.C. – Catawba (14-4, 9-3 South Atlantic Conference) used a 17-0 run spanning the half time break to take control and stiff-arm Carson-Newman (10-8, 5-7 SAC) to a 71-56 win Friday afternoon at Goodman Arena. 

VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview 

SALISBURY, N.C. – Catawba (14-4, 9-3 South Atlantic Conference) used a 17-0 run spanning the half time break to take control and stiff-arm Carson-Newman (10-8, 5-7 SAC) to a 71-56 win Friday afternoon at Goodman Arena. 

"Catawba is a really good team," head coach Chuck Benson said. "They don't have a blemish at home.  They are an NCAA tournament team, no question about that. We had some specific internal objectives today that we met. We rebounded the ball well, and we took better care of the ball than we have against them in previous games. But ultimately, the style makes the fight.  At the end of the day that just wasn't enough." 

The win is Catawba's sixth-straight in the series. The Indians have won 10 straight games at home.  C-N saw its string of back-to-back wins come to a close with the loss. 

Carson-Newman course corrected from issues that plagued it in a home loss to the Indians on Jan. 3. 

Catawba grabbed 24 offensive rebounds and outscored C-N 24-2 in the first meeting.  Rebounding was even Friday 38-38. The Indians only had eight offensive rebounds, half of their league-best 15.5 a game.  Catawba outscored C-N 12-8 in second-chance points. 

Furthermore, after five straight games with 18 or more turnovers against the Indians, C-N only turned it over 15 times.  Catawba led 10-4 in points off turnovers.

While the Eagles were more ball secure, so was Catawba. C-N was without a steal for the first time since Senior Day last year against Coker.  The Indians only turned it over six times. 

The +9 turnover margin saw Catawba take 12 more shots than the Eagles.  With both teams shooting 40 percent from the field, that ended up as the difference maker. 

 A Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) triple brought C-N within one, 27-26 with 1:44 to go in the first half.  Catawba would then score the final seven points of the first half and the first 10 points of the second half to surge ahead.  Carson Daniel and James Bank closed the first half with a triple and a dunk following a turnover to carry a 34-26 lead into the locker room.  Business continued for the Indians to open the second half.  Daniel made the first seven points of the period with a jumper, a triple and a fast break layup before Jordan Simpson canned a three to put Catawba up 18. 

"They got some drive, kick action going and capitalized with a three," Benson said. "We had a horrific turnover and did the same thing to start the second half. They have that capacity.  Ultimately, we had a hard time putting the ball in the basket consistently and couldn't keep pace." 

The 17-0 run is just the third run of 15-0 or greater that Carson-Newman has allowed in the last decade. 

C-N held the Indians 10 points below their season average.  Conversely, C-N scored a season-low 56 points. 

C-N held the Indians to 7-of-25 shooting from beyond the arc.  Simpson, the Indians leading scorer, had 26 in the first meeting.  He was held to seven on 2-of-13 shooting and 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. 

"Our shot contestment was inconsistent, and they were able to exploit some of our ball screen coverages," Benson said. "They had other guys step up and make shots. We met some objectives on the defensive end. Kudos to them, they are a good team with veteran players."

While Simpson struggled, Daniel surged. He reset his career high with 16 points. He was 6-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from deep.  Danile also grabbed a career-best nine boards. 

Banks added in 14, while Ibra Athie had 12 on 6-of-10 shooting.  All but one of his buckets was on a mid-range 15-footer. 

For the first time in 15 games, Browder didn't lead C-N in scoring.  The SAC's scoring leader had 11 on 4-of-11 shooting.  Rylan Houck (Oxford, Ala.) turned in a third straight double-digit scoring effort for the first time in his career, he had a game-high 19.  Houck was 8-of-15 from the floor and a career-best 3-of-6 from three. 

"We did have some guys get better today," Benson said. "We had some guys who responded to what we were looking for, an aggressive confidence.  We have to build on it.  This was a good game for us going into the second half of conference play. Hopefully from the game, we can build on it going into Tusculum next week."

Carson-Newman is back home Wednesday against rival Tusculum. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A live look "On Press Row" is available on YouTube featuring the ESN radio call. 

Game Notes On Press Row Audio Live stats Box Score (PDF) Box Score Preview