ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Five Presbyterian College men's basketball student-athletes reached double figures in points, but it was not enough as the Blue Hose fell to UNC Asheville Saturday afternoon in a Big South Conference game by a score of 99-89.

The Blue Hose now stand at 3-18 overall and 1-8 in conference play. The Bulldogs improve to 8-12 on the year and 5-4 in league action.

Redshirt-junior Walt Allen posted a career-high 17 points, besting his previous career high, which he established in Thursday's loss at Gardner-Webb. Rookie Travis Smith dropped in 14 points as did Khalid Mutakkabir. Chase Holmes netted 12 while Zach Faircloth had 11 points. Jake Troyli added nine in the loss.   

PC built an early 10-6 lead behind two three-point buckets from Zach Faircloth just over four minutes into the contest. After trailing by two, Troyli's lay-up at the 11:52 mark tied the contest for the fifth time.
 
The home squad then went on a 14-5 run over the next three minutes, taking a 30-21 lead. The Bulldogs increased the lead to 16 with 5:05 to go, but Allen helped trim the deficit for the Blue Hose by burying two deep three pointers on back-to-back possessions for head coach Gregg NIbert's team. His second three-point shot pulled PC within eight, 43-35, with 2:34 to go before intermission. However, UNC Asheville went on a 7-0 run before Kevin Davis drilled a three pointer with 11 seconds remaining in the first half.

Asheville connected on 19-of-30 shots in the first 20 minutes of play for 63.3 percent from the floor while PC managed to hit on 14-of-31 attempts from the field for 45.2 percent. Nibert's team drained six-of-eight three-point shots in the first half, keeping things close.

At the break, Allen had hit for a team-high eight points while all eight student-athletes had scored at least three points for PC. The Blue Hose trailed 52-38 at the end of the first period.

PC opened the second half strong, gradually pulling closer to the Bulldogs. With just over 10 minutes to go, Holmes' three-point shot put the score at 71-61. Troyli's 18-foot jumper and free throw a few minutes later closed a 9-0 run by the visitors, putting the score at 71-64.

Allen connected on an inside shot off a pass from Faircloth to get within six. Then, Mutakabbir's lay-up on a three-point play helped the Blue Hose slice the deficit to three, 76-73. On a couple of occasions, PC had it at a one-possession game, but could get no closer.

For the game, PC drained 32-of-65 shots for 49.2 percent. The squad also nailed 13 shots from behind the arc.

The 89 points scored by PC ties the program's record for most points scored against a Division I team since making the transition. Earlier this season, PC scored 89 in a win over VMI. The Division I record for the program is 111, which the squad scored during the 2007-08 season in the win over Carver Bible College.

The Blue Hose return to action Thursday evening at 7 p.m., when they host Coastal Carolina.