Staff report

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — You never know who’s going to shoulder the scoring burden for Catawba’s men’s basketball.

Coach Rob Perron has a lot of options.

Montraivis White exploded for 25 points to lead Saturday’s 86-76 South Atlantic Conference win at Carson-Newman.

Ibra Athie had a huge game, as well, with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Chase Daniel, a freshman from Central Cabarrus, didn’t score, but made a major impact on the game with six steals and four assists in 18 minutes.

Catawba (3-2, 1-1) took care of the ball, while creating havoc without it. The Indians had an 18-4 advantage in the turnover battle.

Catawba also destroyed the Eagles on the boards. While the overall rebounding was close, Catawba had a 16-3 edge in offensive boards, which usually tells the true story of how the fight on the glass is going.

Throw in very respectable 3-point shooting by the Indians (9-for-20), and it’s amazing that the Eagles (6-2, 2-1), who had been playing very well, only lost by 10.

Ranked 24th, Carson-Newman shot 52 percent. John Zhao, Nick Brenegan and Jack Browder combined for 57 points.

Catawba                            49    37    — 86

Carson-Newman             43   33      — 76