AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The sixth-seeded Catawba Indians pulled off the first upset of the NCAA Southeast Regional tournament in Augusta, Ga., with a 74-67 win over the third-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State Pirates. The Indians placed four players in double figures and advance to the regional semifinals on Sunday against the winner of the USC Aiken/Lenoir-Rhyne game. The win is the first in the NCAA Tournament for Catawba since 1998, ending a streak of two consecutive first-round losses in the last two years.

Both teams made an identical 24 field goals and six three-pointers, but Catawba won the game at the free throw line, hitting 20 of 28 (.714) while Armstrong Atlantic State struggled, hitting only 13 of 23 (.565) from the stripe.

Antonio Houston led the Indians with 21 points, hitting seven of 15 from the field with three three-pointers. Rob Fields came off the bench to add 17, including a 12-for-12 performance at the free throw line. Dominick Reid added `3 while Cliff Burns scored 10. Donald Rutherford had eight points to go with a game-high 12 rebounds.

T.T. Hall led Armstrong Atlantic State with 18 points and eight rebounds, although the senior hit only two of 13 three-point attempts. Dwight Tolbert added 17 while Brian Moultrie scored 13.

Both teams began the game strong and the score was tied at nine until back-to-back three pointers from Houston and Reid that sparked a 10-0 Indians run. Armstrong Atlantic fought back with an 8-0 run of their own highlighted by a three-point play from Calvin Wilson that helped cut the lead to two.

Catawba boosted that lead back to 10 in the waning moments of the first half as Fields drained a three-pointer with 2:01 to play, but the Pirates responded once again with a 7-2 run capped by a three-pointer from Hall with five seconds remaining that cut the Indian lead to 35-30 at the break.

Armstrong Atlantic State took their first lead of the game 45-43 on a Keron McKenzie put back with 14:59 to play and led again 52-49 with 10:27 to go following a Hall layup when Catawba went on a 13-3 run over the next four minutes, seven of those scored by Fields, to open up a seven-point lead.

A Dwight Tolbert free throw with 2:06 to play cut the Indian lead to four, but Fields answered with a pair of free throws with 1:18 to play that gave Catawba a six-point lead AASU could not overcome. Catawba made 5-6 free throw attempts in the final minute while AASU missed four consecutive three-pointers on the same possession with fewer than 40 seconds to play.

Catawba will play their regional semifinal game on Sunday at 5:00 pm. (VIEW BOX SCORE)

Game Quotes

Armstrong Atlantic State Head Coach Jeff Burkhamer
 “We gave a good effort, we played hard. We could never really get control of the game. We had a couple of opportunities to seize control and I’ll give them credit, they played well. We’ve not been a good free throw shooting team, really all year and that hurt us tonight when you get outshot at the free throw line by seven and lose by seven. I thought we fought through a lot of stuff.”

“I thought our guys did a good job of containing their poise, fighting through things. And to Catawba’s credit, they were a little more physical than we were and played to that strength.”

Catawba Head Coach Jim Baker
“I’m proud of the way our kids played, it was a heck of a college game. I thought as the game went on; us being here again was a big difference. I felt like our poise and our confidence stayed the same. Out guards took over.”

“We’ve kind of been snake bitten here. We’ve lost two times in a row on last-second, controversial endings and I’m tickled for our kids to get this done.”

“We never had to go to plan B.”

“That was our game plan: just grind, grind, grind. We kind of spurted but they came roaring back. We got down three and we just kept playing. Its not like we tightened up or anything like that. Being here before definitely had its advantages for us.”

Catawba’ Center Cliff Burns On the impact of having more fans:
“I think it made a difference. It always helps to have that home feel.”

On being satisfied with a first-round win:
“Its good to get past the first round, finally.- But it would be settling to say we were okay with that. I think we’ll be happy we got this win but also be kind of disappointed tomorrow if we go out and lose.”