Livingstone dominates the boards in 85-78 win over Catawba

SALISBURY, NC -- Livingstone used a strong performance on the boards and at the free throw line to claim an 85-78 win over host Catawba in the Highway 52 Shootout at Goodman Gym on Sunday night. Tyler Johnson (Raleigh, NC) had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds to help the Blue Bears even their record at 1-1. The Catawba Indians also now stand at 1-1.

The game featured 10 lead changes, mostly in the first half. A jumper by Carl Boswell (St. Paul, MN) with 13:01 remaining put Livingstone up 52-51 and the Blue Bears led the rest of the way. Livingstone withstood a late Catawba rally that saw the Indians cut an 11-point deficit with 1:13 left to just four with 32 ticks remaining.

A steal by Kelvin Drakeford (Charlotte, NC/Cannon School/Barton) led to a three-pointer by Justin Huntley (Mooresville, NC/Mooresville, NC) and when Dominick Reid (Charlotte, NC/Cannon School) followed with a steal and converted a three-point play Catawba trailed just 82-78. Livingstone went back to the line and made three of four at the stripe in the final 21 seconds to salt the contest away. The Blue Bears went 33-of-41 from the free throw line on the night. Catawba was successful on 21-of-32 tries at the stripe.

Catawba led by five early, but Livingstone used a 12-2 run to take its own five-point edge with 6:57 to go in the first half. The Blue Bears kept the lead until a jumper by Lee Martin (Mt. Airy, NC/Mt. Airy HS/Hargrave) early in the second half. The Indians would go up 49-44 with 14:25 to go before the Blue Bears rallied to retake the lead.

Greg Henry (Atlanta, GA) scored 16 points to pace Livingstone and added eight rebounds. Darius Cox (Monroe, NC) had eight points and nine rebounds as the Blue Bears nearly doubled up Catawba on the glass with a 53-28 edge on the boards. Nineteen of those were on the offensive glass where Livingstone scored 27 second-chance points to 10 for the Indians.

Huntley scored a game-high 21 points for Catawba. Reid added 15 and Martin 14 for the Indians. Catawba shot 41%, but hit on just 5-of-28 (18%) from behind the arc. The Tribe did help force 17 Livingstone turnovers while committing just eight miscues of their own.