The Livingstone College men's basketball team opened their season opener with a 75-51 win over Catawba College in the Highway 52 Shootout hosted by Pfeiffer University.

Although the Blue Bears got off to a slow start, senior Ethan Anderson (Grand Rapids, MI) and junior Jody Hill (Detroit, MI) scored 22 points collectively.

Around the six minute mark, Catawba attempted to hold on to their only lead of the game (33-22), but the Blue Bears turned their pressure up and forced Catawba to commit six major turnovers.

With 3:55 remaining in the first half, Livingstone went on a 9-0 run and ended with an open-court dunk from Tyler Johnson (Raleigh, NC).

Livingstone went into the second half with a 40-37 advantage over Catawba.

“For it to be our first game, we didn't have the intensity we would like to start with, but second half we picked it up,” said head coach James Stinson.

In the second half, the Blue Bears were the first to score (42-37) while the Catawba Indians went scoreless in the first four minutes. The Indians pulled within two points (44-42), but the Blue Bears in return went on a 16-0 run with Eladio
Espinoza's (Summit, NJ) good free throw shots to start it off.

The Blue Bears made 13-of-29 shots in the second half, giving them a 24 point lead and the win over Catawba.

Livingstone had three players to score double figures. Hill scored a game high 20 points and eight rebounds. Hill hit 8-of-18 shots from the field, two three pointers and went 100 percent at the charity stripe. 

Mark Thomas (Saginaw, MI) followed up with 14 points and six rebounds. Thomas hit eight-of-nine shots from the free throw line, and five-of-12 shots from the field.

Center Ethan Anderson (Grand Rapids, MI) scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Blue Bears.

As a team, Livingstone hit 28-of-57 (49 percent) shots from the field, and shot 70 percent from the free throw line.

“Anytime you can play a team like Catawba and hold them to a lower percentage in shooting, you have to be pleased, but we have a long way to go,” stated Stinson.

Catawba only shot 25 percent in the second half.

Livingstone improved their record to 1-0 and will play in the Highway Shootout 52 Championship, Sunday, November 11 at 5:00 p.m.