Three Blue Hose scored in double-figures, including Josh Johnson, who had seven points in a 17-0 PC run that saw the men's basketball team erase an 11-point deficit in the second half, to lead Presbyterian College to the 71-64 win over Army in front of 1,175 fans at Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
PC wins its third in a row to improve to 7-5 overall, while Army drops to 5-8.
Al'Lonzo Coleman led the Blue Hose with 19 points and six rebounds. Pierre Miller followed with 18, while Johnson had 10 on the night. Coleman was 13-for-18 from the free throw line to lead PC to a 23-for-33 mark from the charity stripe. The Blue Hose, who shot 42.6 percent from the field, were eight-for-23 from beyond the three-point arc.
Army was led by Ella Ellis with 22 points, followed by Julian Simmons with 14 and a team-leading nine rebounds. Milton Washington had 12. The Black Knights shot 48.9 percent from the field and were five-for-18 from the three-point arc. Army, which edged PC in rebounds, 29-28, was 13-for-15 from the charity stripe. Army had three more turnovers, 18-15, but converted nine more points off them, 25-16.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle that saw six lead changes and seven ties, the last coming with 5:46 on the clock. PC led 27-23 with 4:48 left in the first half but the Army offense cranked it up and outscored the Blue Hose 13-2, highlighted by seven points from Simmons, to head into the locker room with the seven-point 36-29 lead.
The Black Knights opened the second half with four unanswered to take the 11-point, 40-29 lead with 18:42 to go. A three-pointer by Johnson at 18:18 sparked the 17-0 run that saw the Blue Hose take the 46-40 lead before Army responded with a three-pointer by Ellis to end the drought and trail by three, 46-43.
The second half remained close with the final tie of the night coming at the 7:58 mark, 52-52. A jumper by Milton Washington gave Army its last lead of the game at the 7:10 mark. Ryan Mctavish's three-pointer 18 seconds later gave the Blue Hose the lead back for good as PC opened up a seven-point margin, 61-54, with 4:18 remaining.
Army cut the deficit to one at 1:35, 63-62, with an 8-2 run but that would be as close as the Black Knights would get as PC used a perfect five-for-five effort from the charity stripe to answer the visitors' comeback attempts and hold on for the seven-point, 71-64 win.
PC returns to Big South play with a Dec. 31 tilt at VMI. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. The game can be heard on the radio at WLBG AM-860 or www.GoBlueHose.com with John Avery calling all the action. The pre-game show starts at 12:30 p.m.
