VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
SALISBURY, N.C. – Carson-Newman (5-7, 2-4 South Atlantic Conference) coughed up 22 turnovers and Catawba (10-2, 5-1 South Atlantic Conference) pounced to collect a 98-91 win over the Eagles Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gym.
The 22 turnovers are a season high for Carson-Newman. Catawba turned them into a 19-15 edge in points off turnovers.
The turnover margin came with starting point guard Reece Anderson (Douglasville, Ga.) back in Jefferson City with an illness.
"Our turnovers were disappointing," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "I thought Reece Anderson's absence today was very noticeable. Reece was sick and didn't get to play, which was good and bad. We got to play Kaleb Wallace at the point and that was good experience for him. I want to keep those positive realities in mind as we reflect on the turnovers, because we challenged the guys to continue to understand the situations and scenarios that don't necessarily show up on the stat sheet."
Catawba won its sixth straight game overall and its third straight against Carson-Newman, it's longest winning streak against the Eagles in 12 years.
Carson-Newman dropped the contest in spite of making more shots and more threes at a higher percentage than the Indians. Additionally, Carson-Newman won the rebounding battle. However, those typical markers for a victory didn't add up in the face of Catawba going 26-of-33 at the charity stripe compared to 14-of-17 for the Eagles.
The Eagles went 34-for-77 (44.2 percent) from the field and 9-of-26 (34.6 percent from three), while limiting Catawba below their season averages for shooting. The Indians made 33-of-76 (43.4 percent) shots and 6-of-25 (24.0 percent) of their threes.
Furthermore, Carson-Newman outrebounded Catawba 47-44. It marked just the third time this year the Indians had been outrebounded.
"I liked out attitude tonight in a tough place to place and a crowd that was as engaged as its ever been here," Benson said. "The atmosphere here was intense and our guys handled that against a veteran Catawba team that knows how to win games."
The Indians used a 9-0 run late in the first half to create some separation. The Eagles and Indians swapped leads 12 times and were tied four times before Catawba seized control in the final 120 seconds of the half.
Kamil Chapman (Charlotte, N.C.) had gotten C-N within one, 37-36, with a pull-up transition three.
However, Catawba immediately answered with a three from Zaqwuan Matthews and fast break bucket from Daquan Lilly and Larry McLeod to put the Indians in front 46-36 at the halftime break.
"Tripp was out with two fouls late in the first half, and we had Luke, Kamil and Zailan on the floor. Those three are all great players, but they don't have experience at the point that has experience providing a calming effect to allow us to get answer points."
Catawba stretched the lead to 14 in the second half, but the Eagles responded with an 8-0 run of their own to get the deficit back down to five. However, that would be as close as Carson-Newman would get the rest of the way.
For a second straight game Tripp Davis (Nashville, Tenn.) paced Carson-Newman with 22 points. He was 8-for-18 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line. He handed out five assists. Davis was one of four in double digits for C-N.
EJ Bush (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) tracked down his fifth double-double of the year with 19 points and 11 rebounds. He was 6-of-8 from the field anda pefect 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Bush also swiped five steals, a career high and the most by a C-N player in three years.
Chapman and Jaylan McGill (Charlotte, N.C.) rounded out C-N's double-digit scorers with 11 and 10, respectively.
Carson-Newman hampered Catawba's leading scorers effectiveness. The Eagles held leading scorer Devin Cooper to nine, his first game this year without a double-digit scoring effort.
Marcell Hasket came in averaging 17 and went for 24, however, he did the majority of his damage at the line. Haskett went 13-for-14 at the stripe and just 5-for-17 from the field. He was 1-of-8 from long range.
Daquan Lilly went for a more efficient 24, making 8-of-14 shots. McLeod and Matthews added in 14 and 13, respectively, while Malik Constantine collected a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Carson-Newman returns to action Wednesday on the road at Lenoir-Rhyne. Tipoff with the Bears is set for 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
