Newberry, S.C. - The Newberry College men's basketball team (13-11, 13-9 SAC) earned a pivotal South Atlantic Conference victory against the Catawba Indians (9-13, 8-12 SAC) by a final score of 76-64 on Wednesday in Eleazer Arena.

"Other than the first four minutes defensively, I thought, collectively, it was as good of a performance as we may have had," said head coach Jason Taylor.

Catawba would start the game out hot, racing to an early 8-2 lead, but TJ Brown (Columbia, S.C.) was able to get a steal and convert on the breakaway to halt the Indians' momentum. The Indians pushed their lead out to ten points, but Malakhi Stremlow (Traverse City, Mich.) was able to score a tough basket with a foul in order to keep the Wolves within striking distance. Newberry would then utilize a 10-3 run that featured three-pointers from Marcus Ford (Eatonton, Ga.) and Malik Joseph (Eleuthera, Bahamas) to cut the lead down to to one before Joseph hit another three to kickstart a 14-0 Newberry run that would send the Wolves into the halftime break leading 36-25.

Catawba would start off the second half on a 10-3 run to cut the lead back down to four points, but Ford stole back any momentum the Indians were building by throwing down a breakaway slam. After the Indians scored a fast-break dunk of their own, Brown would score five straight points to lead the Wolves on a 10-0 run to extend their lead back out. Catawba would keep fighting, but the Wolves would get back in transition as Devario Sheppard (Columbia, S.C.) was able to find Sherman Robinson (Freeport, Bahamas) for an emphatic alley-oop. The Wolves were able to hold off one final push from Catawba, not allowing the lead to be cut to single-digits, on their way to closing out a 76-64 victory.

Brown finished with an impressive 21 points and 5 assists which led all players in both. Ford would also have a solid all-around game of his own with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. 

"The biggest thing with TJ, he had five assists tonight," Taylor said. "When he's doing that, he makes us so much better and Marcus just handling the ball, taking care of it against their length. Those are two really good guards."

Joseph provided a strong contribution with 15 points and 5 rebounds off the bench. Meanwhile, QuanDaveon McCollum (Clio, S.C.) finished with 7 points and 9 rebounds, and Stremlow scored 8 points while grabbing 7 rebounds.

The Wolves return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 23 when they travel to take on the Coker Cobras with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.