CLINTON, S.C. - Presbyterian College senior center Johann Collins (Raleigh, N.C.) hit a pair of free throws with with seven-tenths of a second remaining to lift the Blue Hose to a 76-72 victory over Newberry College in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action Wednesday night in the Ross E. Templeton Center.
The Blue Hose improve to 13-5 overall and 3-1 in the league, while Newberry falls to 5-10 overall and 0-4 in the SAC.
Presbyterian opened the first half by pulling ahead 12-6 on a pair of free throws by Collins at the 8:37 mark. The Blue Hose lead would increase to double figures at 21-11 behind a 9-5 run over the next six minutes. Newberry's freshman forward Clemente Martin (Freeport, Bahamas) scored to cut the lead to 21-13, but PC's sophomore center Martynas Versinskas (Kaunas, Lithuania) pushed the lead back to 10 points on a dunk with 1:25 remaining. The Indians' junior guard Zach Chandler (Greenville, S.C.) closed out the first half with a jumper to trim the Blue Hose lead to 23-15 entering halftime.
Versinskas led the Blue Hose with eight first half points, while Martin paced the Indians with seven points. The Indians' 15 first half points were their lowest output of the season.
In the second half, the Blue Hose stretched their lead to as many as 19 points at 49-30 with 12:00 remaining in a free throw by sophomore guard Pat Kiscaden (Oviedo, Fla.). The lead stayed in double figures over the next several minutes until Newberry began their comeback. The Indians put together a 17-10 run highlighted by nine points from junior guard Alonzo Hinds (Freeport, Bahamas) to cut the lead to nine points at 63-54 with 4:25 remaining. Newberry continued their comeback and trimmed the lead to only two points at 69-67 with :52 seconds remaining when Hinds connected on a trio of free throws.
The Blue Hose connected on eight-of-12 free throws in the final minute including Collins' game-winning pair sealed the 76-72 victory.
Collins led three Blue Hose in double figures with 18 points including 10-for-10 at the charity stripe, while freshman guard Bryan Bostic (Norcross, Ga.) added 17 points off the bench. Versinskas added 10 points and four boards.
Newberry was led by Hinds' game-high 25 points including 15-of-16 from the charity stripe, while Martin tallied a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Chandler rounded out the double figure scorers with 12 points off the bench.
The Blue Hose travel to Hickory, N.C. on Saturday, January 21 to take on the Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne College at 8:00 pm, while Newberry hosts Tusculum College for a 2:00 pm tip-off on Saturday.
