February 14, 2009

MARS HILL, N.C. - A Mars Hill comeback came up short as Catawba pulled out an 86-83 win Saturday inside Stanford Arena. The Catawba Indians improve to 15-8 overall and 7-5 in the SAC. The Lions fall to 14-9 overall and 5-8 in the SAC.

Catawba grabbed a seven-point lead, 11-4, in the early going off a fastbreak layup by Finnur Magnusson (Reykjavik, Iceland). Mars Hill tied the game 13-all off a three-pointer by Tony Blake (Canton, N.C.).

Catawba rebounded with a 15-2 run. A layup by Donzell Williams (Salem, Va.) at the 8:50 mark gave Catawba a 28-15 advantage.

Trailing 30-17, Mars Hill came back with a 10-0 run. Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 4:52 left in the first half to make the score 30-27 in favor of Catawba.

A trey from Rob Fields (Orangeburg, S.C.) gave Catawba a 35-29 lead at the 3:21 mark. A Williams layup gave Catawba its first double-digit lead, 44-34.

Catawba led at the half 46-36. Polite had 13 points at the break for Mars Hill.

A Donald Rutherford (Morganton, N.C.) dunk with 17:13 left in the game gave Catawba a 51-38 advantage. Catawba increased its lead to 15 points, 56-41, off a fastbreak layup by Williams.

Mars Hill answered with a 19-7 run and cut the deficit to single digits, 56-47, off an eight-foot jumper by Polite. A P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, S.C.) steal and slam cut the game to 62-57 at the 11:35 mark. Polite ended the streak with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to four points, 64-60, with 10:55 left in the game.

Later a layup by Gore made the score 67-65, but Catawba increased its lead back to eight points, 73-65, off a fastbreak layup by Williams.

The Lions rallied and cut the lead to 75-72 off a shot from Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.). Sanders tied the game 78-all with a shot from behind the arc with 2:41 left in the game, and Mars Hill took the lead off two Gore free throws at the 1:54 mark.

Trailing 81-80, Isaac Rose (Jonesville, N.C.) hit a free throw for Catawba with 1:22 left in the game, but Dallas Johnson (Shelby, N.C.) converted a shot on the next possession to give Mars Hill an 83-81 advantage with 1:01 left in the game.

Dominick Reid (Charlotte, N.C.) drained a trey from the top of the key with 51 seconds left to give Catawba back the lead, 84-83.

Gore turned the ball over on the next possession but then forced a steal for the go-ahead layup attempt. His shot rimmed in and out. Fields was fouled and hit two free throws to give Catawba a three-point lead. Sanders missed a three from the top of the key to conclude the game.

Rose led all Catawba scorers with 16 points. He also had nine rebounds. Williams and Rutherford each finished with 14 points. Fields had 11 points.

Polite poured in a season-high 24 points for Mars Hill and was 8-13 from the floor. Gore scored 18 points. Jamarl Glen (District Heights, Md.) and Andy Miller (Franklin, N.C.) netted 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Mars Hill will host Wingate Wednesday night inside Stanford Arena. Tip-time is set for 8 p.m.

Boxscore...

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