Pierre Miller (Warner Robbins, Ga.) scored 14 points while Khalid Mutakabbir (Suwanee, Ga.) added 13 to lead Presbyterian to the 61-48 win tonight in front of 2,068 fans at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
The second-largest home crowd since the Blue Hose moved to Division I witnessed Presbyterian snap a four-game losing streak and improve its record to 11-15 overall and 5-9 in the Big South. Charleston Southern dropped to 13-14 and 7-8 in the league.
Presbyterian College opened the game with a three-pointer by Miller as the Blue Hose quickly built an 8-3 lead with 17:50 to go in the half. Charleston Southern responded with a 14-2 run, capped by a six-point performance by Johathan Brooks, to take its largest lead of the half, 17-10, with 11:01 on the clock.
Miller came through for the Blue Hose, ending the run with a three-pointer at 10:32 to make the score 17-13 in favor of CSU. His three-pointer started a 19-7 run that saw the Blue Hose retake the lead, its largest margin at six, 27-21, with 3:29 remaining. After a CSU three-pointer cut the margin to three, Walt Allen (London, Ky.) hit a jumper with 49 ticks left to give the Blue Hose the five-point, 29-24 lead at halftime.
Charleston Southern cut the margin to three with a jumper by Jeremy Sexton at 17:37 to start the second half, but that would be as close as the Bucs would get as the Blue Hose, led by Josh Johnson (Hendersonville, Tenn.) with his five points during the stretch, outscored CSU 17-9 over the next eight minutes to take the 11-point, 46-35 lead with 9:36 remaining. A quick 7-2 run by the Bucs cut the margin to six, 48-42, with 5:23 on the clock but Presbyterian quickly closed the door, outscoring CSU 13-6 down the stretch, including going five-for-five from the free throw line the last five-and-a-half minutes to take the 61-48 win.
Following Miller, who was three-for-seven from beyond the three-point arc, and Mutakabbir in scoring were Jake Troyli (Largo, Fla.) and Ryan Hargrave (Taylorsville, N.C.) with nine points each. Hargrave led the team in rebounds with six along with Allen. Sexton led the Bucs with 15 points, followed by Brooks, who had 14 rebounds, including 11 defensive boards.
Charleston Southern shot 32.7 percent from the field, while Presbyterian College shot 48.0. The Blue Hose edged the Bucs in rebounds, 32-31, and turnovers were tied 10-10. Presbyterian College went six-for-18 from the three-point arc, compared to a six-for-13 effort by CSU.
Presbyterian College travels to Radford Tuesday, Feb. 15 for a 7 p.m. game, before returning to the Templeton Center Saturday, Feb. 19 to host Davidson in the Sears ESPN Bracketbusters game. Tip-off Saturday is at 7:30 p.m.
