Rock Hill, S.C.----The third-seeded Catawba College Indians rode a hot start to an 80-62 victory over second-seeded Wingate University in the semifinals of the 2024 South Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournament Thursday night. Catawba improves to 21-5 overall, while the Bulldogs fall to 22-8 on the season.

KEY STATS

- Catawba shot 46 percent from the field, going five-for-15 from three-point range (33 percent)
- Wingate shot 38 percent from the field, connecting on two-of-14 from deep (14 percent)
- The Indians held a 43-41 rebounding advantage; the 'Dogs held a 15-12 edge in second-chance points
- Catawba scored 23 points off 21 Wingate turnovers
- The Bulldogs were 20-for-29 at the free throw line; the Indians went seven-for-13
- The Indians outscored Wingate 50-32 in the paint

KEY BULLDOGS

- Vontrez Roberts had 18 points and 10 rebounds, going six-for-nine from the field
- Josh Massey added 12 points and eight rebounds
- Donell Nixon contributed 11 points, six assists and two steals
- Kendall Taylor had seven points and nine rebounds
- Jordan Miller had five points, with Taylor Bell and Aaron Hall adding four points each

FIRST HALF

- A Kris Robinson layup three minutes in gave Catawba a 12-2 lead
- Bell's layup cut the lead to six, but a Shad Thomas layup at the 12:49 mark made it 20-8
- Dre Nelson hit a three with 9:14 to go to extend the Catawba lead to 15
- Peyton Gerald's layup at the 7:53 mark made it 29-12
- Wingate scored the next six, cutting the lead to 11 on back-to-back Roberts buckets
- A Montraivis White layup with four minutes left gave Catawba a 36-21 lead
- Massey buried a triple two minutes later to cut the lead to 11
- A Kaleb Wallace layup in the final minute gave the Indians a 43-28 halftime lead

SECOND HALF

- A layup and two free throws from Roberts cut the lead to 11 early in the second half
- A DeAngelo Epps jumper at the 16:23 mark gave Catawba a 51-36 advantage
- A Nixon jumper and two Massey free throws cut the lead to eight with 13 minutes left
- Miller buried a three at the midway point to make it 57-50
- Two Massey free throws with 9:53 left pulled Wingate within six
- A Wallace layup pushed the Catawba lead back to 10 with 8:53 remaining
- A 6-0 Catawba run capped by a Wallace layup with five minutes left made it 68-54
- A Taylor free throw pulled the 'Dogs back within 11 at the 4:29 mark
- A Jones layup with 3:38 left made it 74-57
- Wingate got no closer than 15 the rest of the way

UP NEXT

- Wingate will wait to hear its postseason future this weekend
- The NCAA will announced the Division II field Sunday at 11 p.m. on NCAA.com
- The Bulldogs were ranked seventh in the most recent NCAA regional poll