CLINTON, S.C.
? The Presbyterian
College
men's basketball team shot 52 percent from the floor en route to a 71-63
victory over the High Point Panthers in a key Big South Conference game
Saturday evening.
The Blue Hose improve to 9-12 on the season and 6-4 in the tough Big
South Conference. The Panthers fall to 5-16 overall and 1-10 against conference
competition.
Senior Bryan Bostic's three-point basket to open the game
gave him 1,000 for his career, becoming just the 19th
student-athlete in head coach Gregg Nibert's time at PC.
The Blue Hose had four players record double figures in points in the win, with
Al'Lonzo Coleman leading the way with 17. He also chipped in six rebounds, four
of which came on the offensive glass.
Pierre Miller connected for 16 points, 12 of which came from behind the arc. He
also dished out a game-high five assists. Josh Johnson chipped in 12 points,
three assists and three steals. Chase Holmes netted 10 points off the bench
while also tallying three steals.
Travis Sligh, coming off a 16-point performance at UNC Asheville, had eight
points to go along with seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Trailing 50-46 with 12:08
to play, PC's talented team went on a 19-2 spurt that spanned 8:25,
essentially putting the game away. Johnson got things started with a jumper at
the 10:48
mark, pulling the Blue Hose within two. A minute later, Aaron Gibbs connected
on a lay-up to knot the game at 50 apiece.
With 9:19
to go, Pierre Miller beat the Panthers down the court for a fast break lay-up,
giving the home team back the lead. After a bucket by Eugene Harris at the 8:45
mark, Miller's three-ball gave the Blue Hose the lead for good.
Holmes hit a foul shot at the 6:35
mark before Miller chimed in with another long three-point basket, giving
Nibert's team a 60-52 advantage.
The lead grew to 13 with just under four minutes to go when Johnson connected
on one of his two three-pointers in the game.
The Panthers pulled within nine with 15 seconds to go, but it was too little
too late as PC drained another foul shot with 10 seconds to go.
In the first half, the Blue Hose netted the first six points
of the game only to see HPU go on a 10-2 run to take the lead. A low-scoring
affair early on, Miller's three-pointer at the 6:04 mark tied the
contest at 23-23.
With the score tied at 26-26 at the 3:39
mark, PC outscored the Panthers 13-5 over the rest of the period as the team
took a 38-31 lead into halftime.
As hot as the Blue Hose were in the opening stanza, having
shot 15-of-30 from the floor, the team was even hotter in the second half. PC
hit 11-of-20 shots in the final 20 minutes of play en route to a 26-of-50
performance for the game.
Nibert's team held a 34-25 margin on the boards while also stuffing four more
shots than the opposition.
The Blue Hose return to action Wednesday evening when they play host to Coastal
Carolina in a 7 p.m., contest.
