Staff report

EMORY, Va. — Catawba’s men’s basketball team keeps finding ways to win and survived a determined effort by upset-minded Emory & Henry on Saturday.

The Indians had to pull out a 95-91 decision at the King Center against one of the South Atlantic Conference’s bottom teams, but all road wins are good wins.

The bottom line was the Indians (7-1, 5-0) stayed tied with Wingate for first place in the league.

DeAngelo Epps led the way with 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting, plus 11 rebounds. Peyton Gerald also was exceptional with 18 points on 9-for-13 shooting.

Javeon Jones made three of Catawba’s nine 3-pointers and scored 15. Justin Mitchell came off the bench for critical 3-pointers and also scored 15.

Catawba shot 45.1 percent, had the edge on the boards and only made 11 turnovers, but it still was a struggle. Emory & Henry shooter Gabe Brown made six 3-pointers and scored 21 for the Wasps (4-10, 1-5), who played an inspired game in front of 237 fans.

Catawba led by 16 points after Mitchell made a 3-pointer with 12:48 left to play, but the Indians went cold, and nine minutes later, the Indians were down by one.

Justin Banks made a layup and Epps had a three-point play, as Catawba came back to life just in time. Mitchell delivered a huge 3-pointer with 1:27 left to push a one-point lead to 93-89.

Catawba                   47     48    — 95

Emory & Henry      39      52    — 91

CATAWBA — Epps 21, Gerald 18, Jones 15, Mitchell 15, Bivins 9, Banks 4, Tinsley 4, White 3, Robinson 3, Wallace 2, Thomas 1.