Salisbury, N.C. - Southern Wesleyan dropped a competitive game to the Catawba Indians in a 94-87 final score on Saturday afternoon. 

The Warriors shot from 50.0% from the field in the loss. Clenzo Ross led the team with 28 points and was followed by Ta'Jay Dunlap with 21 points. Southern Wesleyan tied their season-high 20 assists with Jalen Lowery leading the team with six. As a team, the Warriors collected 24 rebounds with Dunlap having eight and Tranard Ferrell and Hunter Davis with five each. Lowery had three of the seven steals and Ferrell had the lone block.

Game Vitals

Final: Catawba 94, Southern Wesleyan 87

Records: Southern Wesleyan (6-6) Catawba (9-2)

Coach Pasqua Says...

"Proud of how hard we played tonight. I thought we really competed. Looking forward to what we can do after Christmas break."

How It Happened

Jalen Lowery kicked off the contest with a made jumper to put Southern Wesleyan on the board early. Catawba answered with back to back buckets to claim their first lead, but the Warriors were able to put together a 13-11 lead after 3-pointers from Clenzo Ross, Cameron Holmes, and Lowery. The Indians were able to hold onto a five point lead before Southern Wesleyan would reclaim a 23-20 lead on a 3-pointer from Lowery and a pair of free throws from Diego Poore. Catawba would pull away with the largest lead of the contest, leading 36-28. The Warriors would chip away at their lead and a dunk from Tranard Ferrell would put the Warriors trailing 41-43 at the half.

In the second half, a layup from Ross would be enough to tie the game. Following his own shot, Ross would extend the lead to 45-43. Southern Wesleyan would extend their lead to three at 51-48 and again at 53-50 due to offensive efforts from Ferrell and Ross. The score remained tied at 62-62 before Catawba was able to take the lead again. Shots from TJ Harvin and Ross would continue to tie the game at 65-65 and 67-67. The Indians would extend their lead by 12 points as they held an 81-69 lead with roughly three minutes remaining in the contest. Southern Wesleyan would cut the lead to nine on a 3-pointer from Ta'Jay Dunlap. The Warriors threatened late in the game with shots from Dunlap and Hunter Davis, but fell short as time expired. The Indians would go on to win 94-87. 

What's Next

Southern Wesleyan will host their final contest of 2019 on December 31 when they host the USC Aiken Pacers at 2 p.m. The Warriors will open 2020 on January 2 as they host the King Tornado at 7:30 p.m.