Staff report

HARTSVILLE, S.C. — Double-digit South Atlantic Conference basketball road wins are rare commodities, but the Catawba Indians scored a first-round knockout on Monday.

Catawba enjoyed a blistering start at Coker’s DeLoach Center with seven made 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes.

The Cobras never recovered from that early onslaught. The Indians romped 80-58.

Bernard Pelote had 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocks to lead Catawba. Trevion Lamar and Kris Robinson scored 17 each. Myles Washington had 10.

Lamar had team highs of five assists and three steals.

The Indians shot 57.1% for the game, 50% from 3 and went 15-for-16 at the foul line.

There was some concern that the Indians might have a letdown in a quick-turnaround makeup game following Saturday’s upset of 10th-ranked Lincoln Memorial.

But that wasn’t the case.

Catawba (8-9, 7-8)  built leads of 9-0, 16-2 (on a Pelote slam) and 30-9.

The Indians shot 56% in the first half and took a 40-22 lead to the break.

Catawba led by 22 with 14:54 left before Coker (4-13, 4-10) made a run to slice Catawba’s lead down to nine points.

The Indians finished strong, outscoring the Cobras 22-9 down the stretch.

Catawba held Coker to under 40% shooting from the field and 6-for-23 on 3s.

Jordan Jones led the Cobras with 15 points.

Catawba beat Coker 74-69 in Salisbury on Dec. 1.

Catawba is back at it on Wednesday night at home against Limestone. Catawba won in two overtimes at Limestone on Dec. 8.

Catawba   40   40   — 80
Coker        22   36  — 58

CATAWBA — Pelote 22, Lamar 17, K. Robinson 17, Washington 10, Gerald 8, Tinsley 6.
COKER — Jones 15, Snell 11, Onyeodi 9, Bynum 7, Anderson 6, Fordham 6, Gardner 2, Bellamy 2.