VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Sawyer Williams Interview
Catawba led 58-53 with 16:06 left following a Jameel Taylor triple. The Indians would only hit one bucket over the next 10 minutes as C-N whipped out a 19-4 run, aided and abetted by a quartet of Indian turnovers, to turn the five-point deficit into a 73-63 lead with 6:20 remaining following a pair of Charles Clark (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) free throws.
"Catawba is a very tough opponent, who is very aggressive and determined," head coach Chuck Benson said. "During that stretch, we did a better job of containing and getting stop, but also we were also turning those stops into points."
However, Catawba wouldn't go down without returning a few punches. The Eagles led by 13 with 1:12 remaining following a quartet of Zack Pangallo (Newport, Ky.) free throws.
Then the Indians made two threes sandwiched around a C-N turnover, then two more three sandwiched around a C-N turnover to cut the deficit to three with 14 seconds remaining on a Jerrin Morrison trey from the left corner.
"It was so bizarre," Benson said. "We kept playing free and easy instead of controlled and smart. Collectively, our turnovers in the second half were low, we just had too many there down the stretch run. They were costly, but we had enough resolve and determination to hold on."
Sawyer Williams (Owenton, Ky.) was hacked twice in the final 12 seconds and connected on a pair of free throws to give the Eagles' enough cushion to secure the win. Rakeem Brown's three-quarter court heave to tie wound up over the backboard and in the Carson-Newman student section to close the game.
The Eagles drilled 37-of-45 from the charity stripe.
"We make a big deal about that, today though, our guys were extra determined to get into the bonus and get to the free throw line," Benson said. "We had special help. We had the 1957-58 team in attendance tonight, and one in particular, Gerald Oliver, who coached for 30 years in the college and NBA, he helped Sawyer Williams a bit today with his free throw, and we certain appreciate him, plus the rest of that squad being here and supporting us."
Indeed, Gerald Oliver spent some time working on free throw mechanics with Williams in the three-gym area of the MSAC before the game. The assistance evidently helped, as Williams, a career 55 percent shooter, went 7-for-11 from the stripe. The 37 made free throws are the most for the Eagles since making 34 against Tennessee Wesleyan on Dec. 14, 2014.
All five starters finished in double figures for the Eagles, led by Williams' 21. Clark and Mason Bates (Cookeville, Tenn.) each added 19. C-N nearly had a trio hit the 20-point mark for the first time since the SAC semifinals last year against Newberry.
Clark was 10-for-10 at the charity stripe, but only 4-of-10 from the field and 1-of-6 from three. Bates, who was coming off a career-high 20-point night against Mars Hill, nearly matched his efforts from that game by going 5-of-10 from the field, 2-for-4 from three and 7-of-8 from the foul line.
Josh Rogers (Bristol, United Kingdom) had 13 points in front of his parents and Zack Pangallo (Newport, Ky.) added 13 as well to go along with six assists.
Jerrin Morrison led the Indians with 21 points on 8-of-21 shooting. Jameel Taylor added 19 while Rakeem Brown had 12.
C-N shot 52.1 percent from the field (25-of-48), its fifth straight game on the plus side of 50 percent shooting.
The Eagles take on the last team to hold them under 50 percent shooting, Anderson, Wednesday at 8 p.m. inside Holt Fieldhouse. Pregame coverage for the game begins at 7:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
