CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The Presbyterian College men's
basketball team was unable to hold onto a 10-point halftime lead, falling to
Charleston Southern 57-52 Saturday evening in a key Big South Conference game.
The Blue Hose fall to 11-16 on the year and 8-8 in conference
play. The Bucs improve to 8-18 overall and 3-12 against Big South competition.
Leading the way for PC was sophomore Al'Lonzo Coleman, who netted a game-high
16 points. In 37 minutes of action, Coleman also pulled down a team-best eight
rebounds to go along with three blocks.
Rookie Chase Holmes followed up his 24-point career-high
night in the win over VMI with 15 points on six-of-12 shooting. Sophomore
Pierre Miller also hit double figures for PC, tallying 11 points in the loss.
The Blue Hose erupted for 34 points in the opening stanza
behind 51.7 percent shooting from the floor. PC came out to drop in 15 shots
from the floor on a mere 29 attempts.
Miller's last-second three-point shot to end the first
period put head coach Gregg Nibert's team up 10, 34-24.
After CSU got the first bucket of the game, the Blue Hose got things going,
scoring the next seven points of the game, jumping out for a 7-2 lead. During
the run, Holmes made a lay-up and Miller drained a three-point field goal.
Coleman also dropped in a lay-up as well.
CSU battled back, taking a three-point lead at the 11:43
mark in the first half. With the score tied at 19 apiece at the 8:46
mark, Travis Sligh's tip-in gave Nibert's team a two-point margin a minute
later. Aaron Gibbs put the team up four, 23-19, at the 7:07
mark.
The Blue Hose got back-to-back baskets by Miller and Gibbs, giving the team a
27-19 advantage.
PC gained 22 of its first-half points in the paint while 11 came off turnovers.
Things did not go as planned for the Blue Hose to start the second half. The
Bucs ran off the first 11 points in the first 5:20 of the half, taking
a 35-34 lead.
CSU took seven-point margins on a couple of occasions in the half, with the
last coming with 4:05
to play. Down 54-47, PC ran off five of the next seven points, pulling within
three at 55-52 with 38 seconds to play on a three-pointer by Miller.
After forcing a turnover with 27 seconds to go, Nibert's team got the ball back
with a chance to tie the game. However, Miller missed a three-point try with
nine seconds to play that would have tied the contest.
The Blue Hose return to action Wednesday evening when they
travel to Boiling Springs,
N.C., to take on
Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.
