HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba Valley Community College men's basketball team defeated visiting Johnston Community College 86-70 on Saturday afternoon during the final day of the CVCC Christmas Classic at the Tarlton Complex.

With the win, the Red Hawks (10-1) match their win total from just one season ago.

Catawba Valley built a comfortable 34-20 lead with six minutes to go in the first half against Johnston, but a barrage of 3-pointers by the Jaguars' Kavon Ward and Josiah Simmons and a scoreless drought by CVCC in the final two minutes, 48 seconds helped Johnston pull within 38-34 of CVCC by halftime.

Sophomore forward Isayah Johnson, who sat out most of the first half with early foul trouble, returned to the Catawba Valley line up with a vengeance in the second half. Johnson and fellow sophomore Jordan Powell helped their team go on an 11-1 scoring run to start the half — a spurt that carried the Red Hawks through the rest of the game.

Powell scored a team-high 25 points — 17 of them in the second half — to lead the Red Hawks, and Johnson recorded 15 of his 17 points in Saturday's game during the second half. The 20-point performance by Powell is his third and four games.

Ward helped keep the Jaguars (2-10) within striking distance by scoring a game-high 31 points, including eight made 3-pointers, but his performance would not be enough for Johnston to rally.

Freshman Jahleer Black also reached double figures in scoring for CVCC with 11 points.

The CVCC men's basketball team returns to the court on Tuesday for its final game of the 2018 calendar year. The Red Hawks travel to Raleigh, N.C. to face Wake Tech (6-5, 5-0) in a 7 p.m. contest featuring the top two teams in the Region X standings.