MORROW, Ga. — The Catawba College men's basketball team led wire to wire in the victory over Clayton State, 96-77, on Saturday afternoon to stretch its winning streak to three. The Catawba Indians closed out their stay at The Loch with a 2-0 record in the Clayton State Classic.

TEAM STATS
- Catawba (3-1) shot 48.0% from the floor as Clayton State (0-4) struggled a bit more on a 43.9% day
- The Lakers found plenty of success from around the perimeter, however, with a 13-for-24 (54.2%) performance that bested Catawba's 9-for-20 (45.0%) mark from three-point territory
- Each side took 19 shots at the free-throw line with the Catawba Indians owning a narrow 15-14 in made attempts
- Catawba crushed the Lakers in multiple scoring metrics, namely bench points (51-4), points off turnovers (26-6) and points in the paint (44-22)
- The blue and white hammered the Lakers on the boards by a 43-28 margin with a 4-3 edge in blocks; Catawba has won the rebounding and blocking battles in all four games this season
- Clayton State coughed up possession 17 times compared to Catawba who logged 11 turnovers, leading to the visitors claiming a 9-5 advantage in steals

INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Justin Banks registered his second 21-point affair of the season to go with nine rebounds and two swats
- Jashaun Hawkins went 5-for-6 from the field and 4-for-5 from deep, netting 14 points in as many minutes
- Jordan Simpson and Shawn Long scored in double figures for the first time as Catawba Indians by chipping in 12 and 11 points, respectively
- Chase Daniel tallied team highs of three assists and six steals, becoming the fourth player in Catawba history to record multiple six-swipe performances; Daniel had six takeaways last season at #24 Carson Newman (Nov. 23, 2024)

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- The Catawba Indians pressed on the gas and poured in four baskets by four different scorers to take a 9-0 lead after the first three minutes
- CSU's offense settled in and made a sizable dent in Catawba's advantage, cutting it to 22-20 midway through the half
- Jordan Simpson restored the blue and white's multi-possession gap with five quick points, but a sharpshooting DJ Wright swished his third and fourth triples of the contest to keep the Lakers in reach, down by three, at the under-8 media timeout
- Catawba quashed CSU's optimism over the next few minutes with a 12-4 stretch that included eight points from Hawkins and four from Banks
- Simpson and Solomon Tucker put in three points apiece shortly before the lengthy stanza drew to a close at 47-37

Second Half
- Catawba sprinted out of the break, riding an 8-0 run fronted by LeVionne Lindsey's two free throws and layup
- The visitors embarked on a second streak as Banks opened it by going 2-for-2 at the line and hitting a three-pointer, then Long put in a fast-break bucket to close it at 12-0
- With 12:30 to go, Long drained a triple coming out of a timeout to push the Catawba lead to 70-44
- Consecutive layups by Banks and a Hawkins swish from deep saw the advantage continue growing, rising to 33
- The Lakers outscored Catawba across the final seven minutes, but the gap figured to be too great as the visitors cruised to the 96-77 triumph

UP NEXT
Catawba is off for over a week, resuming play with its home opener on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at Lenoir-Rhyne.