Greeneville, Tenn. —- The Catawba College men's basketball team faced a stiff test at Tusculum on Saturday afternoon, falling 78-66 at Pioneer Arena for its third straight setback in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action.

TEAM STATS

- Tusculum shot 26-for-55 (47 percent) from the field, while limiting Catawba to 23-of-60 (38 percent) from the floor

- The Catawba Indians were 5-for-14 (36 percent) from three-point range; the Pioneers were 6-of-19 (32 percent) from deep

- TU was 20-for-28 (71 percent) from the free throw line, while Catawba shot 15-of-21 (71 percent) from the charity stripe

- Tusculum out-rebounded the Catawba Indians 42-33, but it was Catawba who enjoyed a slight 12-7 advantage in second-chance points

- The Catawba Indians recorded 11 assists to 20 turnovers; the Pioneers had 10 assists to 19 turnovers, leading to Catawba's 20-18 edge in points off turnovers

- Catawba held slight advantages in points in the paint (30-26), fastbreak points (13-6) and bench points (27-19)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Javeon Jones scored a team-high 17 points and three assists

- Justin Banks recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench

- Shad Thomas was the third Catawba Indian in double figures with 10 points and seven boards

- Kris Robinson connected on a pair of three-pointers off the bench for eight points and four rebounds

- Peyton Gerald added eight points with team-highs of two steals and two blocks

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

- The teams traded baskets throughout the opening four minutes with ties at 2, 4 and 6

- A quick five points from Catawba broke the back-and-forth start, as the Catawba Indians took an 11-6 lead

- Banks' and-one saw Catawba double-up Tusculum in the early going, 16-8

- TJ Printup's dunk cut the Pioneer deficit to four points at the 8:41 mark

- Montraivis White was fouled on a three-pointer and converted all three to reach Catawba's largest lead of the game to that point at 33-24 with 3:44 remaining

- An 11-2 TU run tied the game at 35 on Bryce Jackson's free throw

- Thomas' tip-in was the final basket of the half, as the Catawba Indians held a slight 37-35 lead at the halftime break

SECOND HALF

- Tusculum scored the second half's first eight points, leading 43-37 at the 17:40 mark

- Jones' and-one cut Catawba's deficit to a single point near the 14-minute mark

- Another quick spurt of six unanswered points for the Pioneers gave them a 51-44 advantage just two and a half minutes later

- Akkeem Odusipe's dunk out of the under-8 media timeout gave TU its first double-digit lead

- Back-to-back dunks and a Jones layup cut the Catawba Indian deficit to 61-56 at the six-minute mark

- Tusculum answered back with five straight points in 70 seconds to double up their lead to return the advantage to double figures

- Robinson's triple brought Catawba back within a couple possessions of the lead at the 3-minute mark

- The Pioneers scored the game's final six points to pull away and hand the Catawba Indians their third consecutive loss in conference play

UP NEXT

- Catawba looks to bounce back in their return to Goodman Arena on Wednesday, hosting league leader Wingate at 7:30 p.m.