MILWAUKEE, WIS.?The Presbyterian College men's basketball team was led by Al'Lonzo Coleman's 13 points, and Josh Johnson chipped in 11 points, but it wasn't near enough as the Marquette Golden Eagles downed the Blue Hose 84-45 on Dec. 28 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wis.
Along with Coleman's (Charlotte, N.C./Vance) 13 points and four rebounds, Johnson (Hendersonville, Tenn./Hendersonville) contributed 11 points, two blocks and one steal. Travis Sligh (Columbia, S.C./Keenan) and Chase Holmes (Spartanburg, S.C./Chesnee) each grabbed three rebounds on the defensive end.
Johnson started the scoring for PC (5-8) with a three pointer at 19:08 to give PC a 3-0 lead. After Marquette (11-2) tied the score with a trey, Johnson hit one of two free throws to make the score 4-3. The Golden Eagles, however, would go on a 12-0 run and take a lead they would keep for the remainder of the half.
Johnson would hit a jumper with 10:52 remaining in the half to stop the Marquette run and make the score 18-6 in favor of the Golden Eagles. After a Coleman basket, Johnson hit another shot at 9:30 to bring the score to 22-11 and was responsible for nine of PC's 11 points.
Miller hit his only basket of the half when he sank a three pointer with just under three minutes left in the first half, but the Golden Eagles would enter the locker room with a 40-18 lead. The Blue Hose only shot 28 percent from the field in the first half and was seven of 25 shooting.
Coleman started the second half strong, sinking a layup in the first minute. After Johnson hit a basket to cut Marquette's lead to 40-22 at 18:31, the Golden Eagles responded with back-to-back threes to put them back on top by 27 points. Coleman helped PC go on a 5-0 run by hitting a free throw after getting fouled when making a layup, then hitting a jumper in the paint at the 12:10 mark.
The Blue Hose improved their shooting in the second half, and were 10 of 22 from the field for a 45.5 percent field goal percentage. Despite a better shooting percentage in the second half, Marquette held PC scoreless for almost the last five minutes of the game. Holmes stole a pass and took the ball the length of the court for the layup with 33 seconds left to give PC its last points of the game, and the Golden Eagles came away with a 84-45 victory.
Marquette improves to 11-2 on the year, and had two players with over 20 points. Lazar Hayward had 22 points and Wesley Matthews had 21 to lead the Golden Eagles. Hayward also had 11 of Marquette's 44 total rebounds.
PC moves to 5-8 on the year with the loss, and still stands at 2-0 in Big South conference action. The Blue Hose return home to face conference foe Radford on Jan. 3 in the second game of a PC basketball doubleheader. After the women's game at 5 p.m. against Winthrop, the PC men take on the Highlanders at 7 p.m.
