Saturday, March 3, 2001

Catawba uses second-half outburst to capture SAC men’s championship

HICKORY, NC – The top-seeded Indians of Catawba College broke up a close game in the opening minutes of the second half as they defeated No. 3 seed Presbyterian College 76-61 Saturday afternoon in the 2001 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament championship game at the CVCC Multipurpose Complex.

The Indians, who advances to the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional next weekend, improved to 25-4, while the Blue Hose ended their season at 19-10.  It is the third time in the last four years that Catawba has won the tournament and qualified for the regional tournament.

Presbyterian stayed close for a half, shooting 55% and trailed only 34-33 at the break.  All-tournament performer Rod Isom scored 11 of his 12 points in the opening half for the Blue Hose. 

Catawba led 45-43 with 14:06 remaining, then went on a 16-2 run over four minute span to take control.  Presbyterian could not get closer 12 points from that point.  The Indians shot 60% in the final half, while holding Presbyterian to just 38%.

Catawba was led by tournament Most Valuable Player, Kevin Petty.  The sophomore scored 23 points, hitting on six three-pointers, to pace the Tribe.  He scored 16 of Catawba’s 34 points in the opening half.  Nedzad Gusic, who also earned all-tournament honors had 17.

Chuck Rayford led Presbyterian with 14 points, while Isom added his 12.  Joining Petty, Gusic and Isom on the all-tournament team, was Catawba’s Brian Carter, who had 26 points in the final, and Wingate’s Djuan Hankins.

PRESBYTERIAN (19-10) – Isom 4-8 4-9 12, Whittle 3-5 0-0 7, Humphries 1-6 1-4 3, Campbell 3-4 2-2 10, Rayford 5-13 4-6 14, Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Scully 0-1 0-0 0, Stamps 4-6 0-1 8, Touchberry 0-2 1-2 1, McEntire 0-1 0-0 0, Dellinger 2-3 0-0 4, Brannon 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 1-2 0-0 2. Team 23-51 12-24 61.

CATAWBA (25-4) – Carter 8-9 0-0 16, Luyk 3-8 3-6 11, Gusic 4-10 8-15 17, Bryant 2-5 0-0 4, Petty 7-13 3-4 23, Whitehead 0-0 0-0 0, Phipps 1-2 0-0 2, Jernigan 0-0 0-0 0, Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Robertson 0-0 0-0 0, Parks 0-0 0-0 0, Proctor 1-3 0-0 2, Monanaro 0-0 1-2 1, Hagaman 0-0 0-0 0, Raikes 0-0 0-0 0, Everett 0-0 0-0 0.

Team 26-50 15-27 76.

Halftime Catawba 34, PC 33. Three-point field goals- PC 3-10 (Campbell 2-2, Whittle 1-2, Rayford 0-4, McEntire 0-1, Dellinger 0-1), Catawba 9-23 (Petty 6-10, Luyk 2-6, Gusic 1-4, Bryant 0-2, Phipps 0-1). Total Rebounds – PC 41 (Humphries 7), Catawba 26 (Carter, Luyk, Bryant 4). Personal Fouls- PC 20, Catawba 22. Fouled out – PC Rayford. Techincal Fouls – Catawba (Carter). Assists – PC 10 (Scully), Catawba 17 (Gusic 8). Turnovers – PC 18, Catawba 12. Steals – PC 7 (Rayford 3), Catawba 7 (Bryant 5). Attendance: 631.

QUOTES FROM CATAWBA HEAD COACH JIM BAKER:

“PC is a hard team to play. They are so hard to score against. In the second half, we put our center (Alex Luyk) in the corner. That spread out their defense and opened it up for our perimeter players.”

QUOTES FROM CATAWBA’s KEVIN PETTY:

“Today they played a zone defense. They weren’t on me and I thought I could make them (6 3-pointers).

QUOTES FROM PC HEAD COACH GREGG NIBERT:

“Eighteen turnovers is a big stat, especially in a championship game and it cost us.”

QUOTES FROM PC’s ROD ISOM:

(On Catawba’s run in the second half) “We started making careless mistakes. They made some nice shots, but we should have taken better care of the basketball.”