JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Presbyterian College men's basketball team hit its foul shots down the stretch, helping the Blue Hose earn their first road win of the season with a 59-55 defeat of Jacksonville State in the team's first appearance in the highly coveted Bracketbusters.

The Blue Hose (5-23) were led by Walt Allen and Jake Troyli, who each netted a team-best 14 points. Ryan Hargrave and Khalid Mutakabbir each had eight while Jay Reynolds added six. Mutakabbir also paced the defense with three steals. JSU (11-17) was led by Nick Murphy's 17 points.

"Walt had a phenomenal game," head coach Gregg Nibert said. "Ryan came in and did some nice things and Jake wanted the ball in the end. I couldn't be prouder of a basketball team. To go out and win our first road game for our guys after one of the toughest losses of the season was great.

"This is the most resilient team I've ever been around. These guys are winners."

Making its first appearance in the Bracketbusters, PC came out on fire. The Blue Hose made their first five attempts of the game, racing out to a 12-6 advantage just prior to the first media timeout. In that opening spurt, Allen and Troyli each canned deep three-point shots.

PC then went scoreless for the next two minutes, but rookie Jay Reynolds came in and drained a 17-foot jumper off a pass from Troyli. Mutakabbir then stole the in-bounds pass and converted it for an easy lay-up, making the score 16-10 with 14:09 to play.

With the score 16-12 in favor of the dominant Blue Hose, head coach Gregg Nibert's team widened the lead to 15 after embarking on an 11-0 run that spanned 5:09 of the game. During the run, Mutakabbir made a short jumper and was followed up by Reynolds converting an in-bounds pass from Allen for a quick lay-up. Travis Smith beat the defense for two while Hargrave buried a 15-foot jumper from the baseline. Allen ended the 11-0 stretch by hitting a 25-foot three-ball for the 27-12 advantage.

After JSU got back on the board with a jumper by Jeremy Bynum at the 8:05 mark, PC rattled off five unanswered points, building a 32-14 lead. The Blue Hose maintained the advantage heading into intermission up 36-18.

During the first 20 minutes of play, PC drilled 14-of-21 shots for 66.7 percent from the field. The squad also connected on three-of-four from downtown. Leading in virtually every category, PC had 14 points in the paint to eight by the Gamecocks at the break. The team also led 11-5 in points off turnovers.

Seven of the eight student-athletes that played in the first half scored - and the bench accounted for six of the points. Chase Holmes and Reynolds did not miss any of their three attempts in the first half.

In the first stanza, the swarming defense of Nibert's team forced the home team into seven turnovers. It also limited the Gamecocks to just seven-of-24 shooting (29.2 percent) from the floor.

At the start of the second half, JSU turned the tables on PC. The Gamecocks came out on an 11-4 run, holding PC to just one field goal until Allen pump faked and hit a lay-up with 10:16 to go in the contest. With the bucket, the Blue Hose pushed their lead back to double digits at 44-33.

After a free throw put the score at 44-34, Allen whipped a nice no-look pass to Reynolds for a reverse lay-up. On the ensuing possession, Reynolds corralled a rebound and Holmes eventually made a short hook shot to make the margin 14 at 48-34 with 8:58 to play.

JSU cut it to seven on a break-away by Nick Murphy with 5:53 to play, 51-44. Neither team was able to put the ball into the bucket for the next two minutes. However, Allen pushed the lead back to nine with 3:51 to go. Murphy then drained a three in the corner with just over three minutes remaining.

Troyli was fouled and after a media timeout, he calmly went to the line and nailed two charity tosses. Two possessions later, Murphy was fouled and hit made both his free throws, slicing the lead to just six with 2:13 to go.

Up by four with 40 seconds remaining, Travis Smith was fouled bringing the ball across midcourt. Usually stellar at the line, both attempts rimmed in-and-out. Stephen Hall then backed down into the lane and converted a short shot to make the score 55-53 in favor of the Blue Hose with just 24.7 seconds to play in the contest.

PC inbounded the ball to Troyli, who held onto it for five seconds in the backcourt before being fouled. He went to the line, swished the first and rattled the second one home, pushing the advantage to four with 19.6 in the game.

Dominique Shellman sprinted up court, sliced into the lane and hit a running jumper to pull within two. Troyli was fouled once again with 9.2 to go. He iced the contest by swishing both of his shots for the 59-55 victory.

PC finished the game 20-of-42 from the field for 47.6 percent. The squad also hammered home 16-of-23 attempts from the foul line.

The win was PC's first on the road since a 70-53 win Dec. 6, 2008 at High Point, stopping a 27-game road losing streak. It also marked the first non-conference road win since a 59-43 win over Army Dec. 1, 2008.

The Blue Hose return to action Tuesday evening in the home finale. PC hosts Big South rival Gardner-Webb. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in the Templeton Center.