Rock Hill, S.C.-The Presbyterian College
men's basketball team couldn't contain Winthrop on New Year's Eve as the Eagles
took their first and only lead of the game with sixteen seconds remaining to
take the 53-51 victory.
Despite
trialing for the entire game Winthrop continued to battle and forced a 51-51 tie
off a three pointer with just over a minute left in the game. PC was unable to score on their ensuing
possession and a layup by the Eagles with 16 seconds left gave them a lead they
wouldn't relinquish. With the loss the
Blue Hose fall to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in Big South play, while Winthrop
advances to 6-7 and 2-1 in the conference.
Presbyterian
College was led by Khalid Mutakabbir (Suwanee, Ga.) and Pierre Miller (Warner
Robbins, Ga.), who each had 14 points to top all scorers, while Al'Lonzo
Coleman (Charlotte, N.C.) pulled down a game high 16 rebounds. The Blue hose shot 37 percent from the field
in the game, while Winthrop was helped by a 50 percent second half field goal
percentage to finish with a 39.6 percentage for the game.
Coleman also
dropped 11 points for his 14th career double-double. The redshirt-junior's rebounding total took
him over the 500 rebound threshold. He
is just 22 points shy of joining the 1,000 point club with 978 career points.
Presbyterian
College started the first half strong on defense, forcing three early steals which
resulted in two layups from Mutakabbir and giving PC a 4-0 lead. The Eagles would hit a layup to make it 4-3
at the 14:29 mark, and after the teams traded baskets Miller sank a three
pointer to put PC up 9-5 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first
half.
Out of the
second media timeout Winthrop hit a quick jumper but the Blue Hose answered
with an 11 point run to extend their lead to 20-7 with 5:44 in the half. Along with a three pointer from Mutakabbir
and a layup from Josh Johnson (Hendersonville, Tenn.), Coleman added two field
goals in the five minute scoring run.
The Eagles
went on a small 4-0 run of their own, but PC held strong and off of Miller's
second three pointer of the game maintained a 25-13 advantage. In the final minute of the half, Coleman
found Walt Allen (London, Ky.) under the basket for his third field goal of the
half, giving the Blue Hose a 27-15 lead that they would take into the locker
room at half time.
PC started the
scoring in the second half after Coleman hit one of two free throws, but the
Eagles responded with a jumper at 18:34 to make the score 28-17 in favor of the
Blue Hose.
Winthrop,
however, continued to chip away at PC's lead over the next ten minutes, using a
nearly four minute long PC scoring drought to cut the score to 39-32 with eight
minutes left in the game. Miller sank a
three pointer at 6:23 to put the Blue Hose back on the board, but the Eagles
again closed the gap, this time coming within two points before a layup from
Coleman and another trey from Miller at 3:58 put PC back up by seven,
47-40.
The home team
continued to battle, and despite a jumper from Mutakabbir with just over two
minutes left, the Blue Hose could not contain the Eagles and Winthrop secured the lead off of a layup with sixteen seconds left in the game. PC couldn't score on the next possession, and
a foul sent Winthrop to the line with one second left. The Eagles would eventually come away with
the 53-51 win.
PC will travel
for a Sunday matinee against Navy. The
game from Annapolis starts at 1 p.m.
Fans can keep
up with Blue Hose basketball and the rest of PC's 16 intercollegiate sports
teams at www.Twitter.com/BlueHoseSports. There, fans will find exclusive updates you
can't find anywhere else. If video is
your quest, check out the BlueTube on www.GoBlueHose.com or www.youtube.com/BlueHoseAthletics.
