Box Score HICKORY, NC – Catawba College broke a 46-46 deadlock and pulled away over the final 10 minutes to take a 75-62 win over Francis Marion University, Friday night (Nov. 11) in the Peach Belt Conference/South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Challenge.
FMU drops to 0-1 and will face host Lenoir-Rhyne University on Saturday at 8 p.m. in the final game of the four-team event.
Junior swingman Warren Specht led Francis Marion with 14 points, on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range, and six rebounds, while junior guards Detrek Browning and Josh Council each scored 10 points.
Jameel Taylor led Catawba (1-0) with 23 points, while Jerrin Morrison and K.J. Arrington each tallied 17.
Francis Marion claimed an early 21-12 advantage as the Indians misfired on 15 of the first 20 field goal attempts, including making only one of their first 11 three-point attempts.
However, Catawba responded with an 11-0 run to grab a 23-21 lead on a three-pointer by Ben Sealey with 2:06 left before halftime. Specht then drained his third three-pointer of the opening stanza to put FMU back on top 24-23. Council missed a three-pointer on the final possession of the first half and the teams retreated to the locker rooms knotted at 26-26.
Catawba scored the opening seven points of the second half and led by as many as 10 at 42-32. However, Francis Marion answered with a 12-2 spurt to tie the game at 44-44 after a three-pointer by sophomore Brandon Parker with 11:18 remaining. Moments later with the score knotted at 46-46, a three-pointer by Taylor gave Catawba the lead for good at 49-46.
The margin would swell to 63-52 before a three-pointer by Specht and a lay-up by Judah Alexander narrowed the deficit to 63-57 with 3:09 left. Catawba then scored the next seven points to take a commanding 70-57 lead.
After a cold-shooting opening 20 minutes, Catawba made 17-of-30 shots (56.7%) in the second stanza.
For the game, Francis Marion shot 34.4 percent from the floor, including 8-of-21 from three-point distance, and made 12-of-18 free throws, while Catawba connected on 45.6 percent of its shots, including 8-of-26 from long range, and made 15-of-24 charity tosses.
The Indians outrebounded FMU 42-37 and held a 13-6 advantage in second-chance points.
11/11/16 6:00 p.m. at Hickory, N.C. (Shuford Gymnasium)
CATAWBA 75, FRANCIS MARION 62
FRANCIS MARION (0-1)
Warren Specht 5-11 0-0 14; Detrek Browning 4-11 1-2 10; Josh Council 3-10
2-3 10; Judah Alexander 3-8 1-2 7; Daniel Bridges 2-6 1-3 5; Brandon Parker
1-2 2-2 5; Samson Nnaji 1-3 2-2 4; Jaquez Smith 0-2 3-4 3; Tomas Hilmarsson
1-2 0-0 2; Kenneth Jackson 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 21-61 12-18 62.
CATAWBA (1-0)
Taylor, Jameel 7-16 6-7 23; Morrison, Jerrin 8-14 0-0 17; Arrington, K.J.
4-9 7-9 17; McLaughlin, Jeremy 2-2 0-0 4; Warren, Troy 1-2 1-2 3; Sealey,
Ben 1-2 0-1 3; Barber, Jordan 1-4 0-0 3; Brown, Rakeen 1-4 1-3 3; McGregor,
Gilbert 1-2 0-2 2; Pappas, Peyton 0-0 0-0 0; Ingram, Andrew 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 26-57 15-24 75.
Halftime: 26-26
3-point goals--Francis Marion 8-21 (Warren Specht 4-6; Josh Council 2-7;
Detrek Browning 1-5; Brandon Parker 1-1; Tomas Hilmarsson 0-1; Daniel
Bridges 0-1), Catawba 8-26 (Taylor, Jameel 3-7; Arrington, K.J. 2-6;
Morrison, Jerrin 1-5; Sealey, Ben 1-2; Barber, Jordan 1-4; Brown, Rakeen
0-2). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, Catawba-None. Rebounds--Francis
Marion 37 (Daniel Bridges 7), Catawba 42 (Warren, Troy 8). Assists--Francis
Marion 13 (Detrek Browning 4), Catawba 12 (Taylor, Jameel 4). Total
fouls--Francis Marion 23, Catawba 18. Technical fouls--None. A-375
