Catawba Men's Basketball Team Wins SAC Regular Season Title With 78-66 Victory at Wingate
February 23, 2005

Courtesy Wingate University Sports Information Office

Wingate, N.C.----The Catawba College men’s basketball team clinched its first South Atlantic Conference regular season title since the 2000-01 season with a 78-66 victory over Wingate University Wednesday night in Cuddy Arena on the Wingate campus.

With the win, Catawba improves to 21-5 overall and 11-2 in the SAC. Newberry topped Lenoir-Rhyne tonight, so Catawba has a two-game lead over Lenoir-Rhyne entering the final weekend of the regular season. Wingate (8-18 overall, 4-9 SAC) will visit Carson-Newman Saturday night for its regular season finale.

Five players hit double figures for Catawba, led by junior forward Helgi Magnusson and his double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Indian junior forward Jolly Manning added 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Sophomore guards Brian Graves and Ahmad Murphy added 11 points and 10 points, respectively. Catawba freshman guard Jamel Hamilton contributed 10 points for the visitors.

Wingate freshman forward/guard Sean Barnette (Rock Hill, S.C.) had 16 points, while junior guard Maurice Hoover (Allendale, S.C.) contributed 14 points. Bulldog junior center Anthony McKinnon had a solid night with 12 points and a team-best nine rebounds.

Catawba took an 8-6 lead on a Murphy lay-up with 15:02 remaining in the first half. The Indians would never trail again, as Catawba built a 36-26 halftime lead. A three-point field goal by Barnette pulled Wingate within four at 38-34 early in the second half. The Bulldogs would get no closer the rest of the way.

The visitors shot 51.9 percent in the second half (14-of-27) to pull away for the victory. The Indians outrebounded the Bulldogs 41-35. Defense was placed on the front burner, as the two teams combined to block 16 shots. Manning led Catawba with three rejections. Hoover matched Manning in the block department with three.