By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

Catawba guard Jameel Taylor led a 72-71 South Atlantic Conference win at Anderson on Saturday and made it possible for K.J. Arrington to hit a game-deciding free throw with four seconds left.
Taylor, who joined Catawba’s 1,000-point club on Wednesday, puts up outstanding numbers so consistently that he seems like a robot, but he’s human, and he deals with the same human emotions as everyone else.
Whenever Catawba travels to Anderson, S.C., to take on the Trojans in the Abney Center, it’s a nervous homecoming for Taylor, who played his prep ball five miles away from the university at T.L. Hanna High. That means lots of friends and lots of family expecting Taylor to do great things, and it means he always tries extra-hard to do something special.
“He didn’t play that well the first two times he came back here,” Catawba coach Rob Perron said. “He didn’t play like himself. He played tight.”
When Taylor was a freshman he scored nine points at Anderson. Catawba got blown out.
As a sophomore, he was a little better, scoring 13, but he shot 6-for-18, and that was a reason Catawba took a two-point loss.
But Saturday it was Taylor’s time to be a winner. Along with Arrington, the 6-foot-3 junior owned the final minutes.
Catawba (9-3, 3-3 SAC) trailed 11-2 right out of the gate and was down 36-32 at halftime. Perron wasn’t thrilled. The Indians emphasize three statistics — rebounds, field-goal percentage and transition points.
“At halftime we were losing all three,” Perron said. “But in the second half, we turned all three around. We didn’t win those categories by much, but we had the edge in all three.”
Catawba allowed Anderson only five offensive rebounds stayed close throughout the second half, but it was hard to make a move because Anderson was getting a phenomenal game from guard Shawn Benard, who came off the bench to score 25 points. Benard averages 10 points.
When Anderson (5-6, 3-2 SAC) scored with 2:57 remaining, Catawba trailed, 70-62.
“It’s just so hard to win on the road in this league,” Perron said. “It’s like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. You’re always trying to create ways to win.”
The Indians’ comeback began with a Troy Warren dunk. Arrington made the pass to Warren, and the Indians got some energy.
When Arrington battled to stick back a missed 3-pointer by Ben Sealey, Catawba was down 70-66 with two minutes left.
The Indians needed stops and got them. Taylor slowing down Benard was the key to that.
“Benard is a very good player with a very nice pull-up game, but he’d been getting open in transition,” Perron said. “But whenever we scored that meant it was a lot easier to get Taylor matched up with Benard. Taylor has become a really good scorer, but we recruited him because he was such a good defender. He made it hard for Benard to dribble or shoot.”
Sealey grabbed a defensive rebound, pushed the ball and found Taylor for an open look. Taylor’s 3-pointer with 1:49 left was a huge one. It cut Anderson’s lead to 70-69.
With 29 seconds left, Taylor also made the jumper that put Catawba ahead 71-70.
“He played with relaxed aggressiveness today,” Perron said.
Randall Shaw made one of two free throws for Anderson with 14 seconds left for a 71-all deadlock.
Arrington drew a foul with four seconds left. His first free throw was good to break the tie.
Arrington missed the second free throw, but Catawba was able to defend Anderson’s last possession effectively, and a desperation 3-pointer was off the mark.
“We made good in-game adjustments and good late-game adjustments,” Perron said. “Very proud of the guys for being able to execute what we asked.”
Taylor finished with 19 points and eight rebounds. Arrington scored 11. Malik Constantine contributed eight points and eight rebounds.
While the SAC season is a 22-game marathon, Perron agreed this was an important win. Being 3-3 in the league at the Christmas break feels a lot different than 2-4. Especially with SAC leader and national contender Queens coming to Goodman Gym for the first game after Christmas.
Perron had one problem to deal with on the bus before the Indians started worrying about Queens.
“The guys are wanting me to sing,” he said.

CATAWBA (72)
Taylor 19, Arrington 11, Morrison 9, Constantine 8, Warren 5, Brown 5, McLaughlin 5, McGregor 4, Barber 3, Sealey 3, Ingram.
ANDERSON (71)
Benard 25, Dotson 8, Shaw 7, Bouton 7, Boynton 7, Jeffords 6, Howard 6, Prandy 3, Rochez 2.

Catawba 32 40 — 72
Anderson 36 35 — 71