WINTERVILLE, N.C. — The Catawba Valley Community College men's basketball team overcame an early double-digit deficit to host Pitt on Tuesday, defeating the Bulldogs 96-89 at the Coburn Center.

Shad Thomas paced the Red Hawks (11-8, 7-5 in Region 10) with a team-high 23 points, while Nasim Fuller added 20 points.

Catawba Valley trailed 18-2 in the early going against Pitt (10-10, 7-7 in Region 10), but worked its way back to trail by only four points — 44-40 — at halftime.

Javen Chandler paced CVCC with team-best 11 points at halftime.

The Red Hawks exploded in the second half, outscoring the Bulldogs 56-45 to pull away for the conference victory. Thomas and Fuller led Catawba Valley with 17 second-half points each.

Anthony Allen and Chandler also reached double figures in scoring for Catawba Valley in Tuesday's contest. Allen recorded 17 points, while Javen Chandler added 15 points.

The CVCC men's basketball team returns to the court on Friday for a home contest against Guilford Tech at 3 p.m. at the Tarlton Complex. The contest is the fifth in a string of eight games in 11 days for the team.