Despite Al'Lonzo Coleman's 15 second half points and a 52.3 percent shooting night, the Presbyterian College men's basketball team could not overcome a season-high 23 turnovers as the Blue Hose fell to the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, 65-58, tonight at the CSU Fieldhouse in Charleston, S.C.
PC drops its third straight to go to 8-9 overall and 2-5 in the Big South. Charleston Southern improves to 11-7, 5-3.
After the Blue Hose tied the game at 13 in the first half off a jumper by Josh Clyburn at 12:28, the Bucs rattled off eight straight to make it 21-13 with 8:16 left before halftime. PC snapped the drought with a basket by Eric Washington at 7:32 but CSU responded the next play with a jumper by Mathiang Muo to make it 23-15 with 7:21 remaining before intermission.
Trailing 27-17, Washington hit his first three-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to seven with 3:11 on the clock. The Bucs answered right back with a shot from beyond the arc by Saah Nimley to make it a 10-point game again, 30-20 with 2:51 left.
Ryan Hargrave hit a jumper while Tyler Deihl added a three-pointer to counter a CSU three-pointer to make the score 33-25 at half in favor of the Bucs.
PC cut the margin to five just 19 seconds into the second half with a three-pointer by Pierre Miller and then made it a two-point game off two free throws by Washington but a basket and free throw by Kelvin Martin took the CSU lead up to six with 18:23 to go,
Washington hit a lay-up at the 15:45 mark to make the margin just one, 35-36, as part of a second-half opening 10-3 run.
PC and CSU traded baskets for the next several minutes before Reynolds tied the game again, this time with a jumper at 10:50 to make the score 43-43. After a CSU free throw, Coleman hit his ninth and 10th point of the second half to give PC the 45-44 lead with 9:59 remaining.
CSU, which didn't have a basket from 15:20 to 8:52, relied on six free throws during the stretch, to stay in the game. Sexton's basket at 8:52 ended the field goal drought as PC led 47-46 with 8:29 to go after a Coleman field goal.
Trailing 48-46, Cedrick Bowen connected on his shot to tie the game with 7:22. That started a 9-4 run that saw the Bucs take a five-point 57-52 lead at the last media timeout at 3:04.
Khalid Mutakabbir cut the margin to two with a three-pointer at 2:14 before PC fouled Nimley as he attempted a three-pointer to go to the line shooting three. He connected on all of them to make it 60-55 with 1:40 on the clock.
Coleman hit one of two free throws after being fouled with 1:11 to go to cut the margin to four, 56-60, but that is as close as the Blue Hose would get as CSU went five-of-six from the charity stripe in the final minute to take the 65-58 win.
Coleman led PC with 15 points, with Eric Washington following with nine on the night. Washington and Clyburn paced the team in rebounds with nine each. Martin led CSU with 15 points, followed by Sexton with 13. Martin also led the rebounding effort with nine.
PC held the 30-29 edge in rebounds, but had nine more turnovers, 23-14. PC shot 52.3 percent from the field for the game, compared to 42.6 for the Bucs. PC was just four-of-13 from beyond the arc, with CSU three-of-14. The Blue Hose connected on eight-of-14 free throws, while the Bucs hit 16-of-23, all coming in the second half.
The Blue Hose stay on the road and travel to Conway, S.C. to take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Saturday, Jan. 14 at 4:30 p.m. The game can be heard on the radio at 860-AM WLBG with the pre-game show starting at 4 p.m.
Fans can also watch the game on the internet for a nominal fee at www.BigSouthSports.com through the Big South Sports Network sponsored by State Farm.
