Pierre Miller (Warner Robbins, Ga.) scored 18 points, all off three-pointers, to lead several Blue Hose rallies, but the Presbyterian College Men's Basketball team couldn't quite get past UNC Asheville, falling to the Bulldogs, 66-58, tonight before a season-high 1,610 fans at Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
The Blue Hose lost its fifth in a row for the first time since early December of the 2009-10 to go to 8-11 overall and 2-7 in the Big South. UNC Asheville improved to 14-7, 9-1.
The Bulldogs opened up a 10-point lead, 43-33 with 13:21 remaining in the second half, before the Blue Hose, highlighted by one of Miller's six three-pointers of the night, cut the deficit to four, 42-46 with 9:06 on the clock. UNC Asheville scored the game's next 12 of 14 points to lead by its largest margin of the half, a 14-point 58-44 lead at the 5:09 mark.
The final four minutes of the game saw the Blue Hose connect on four three-pointers, including two by Miller, but it was not enough to overcome the double-digit deficit as PC fell by the final eight-point margin, 58-66.
PC led 13-7 with 13:52 to go in the first half, behind a solid perimeter shooting that saw the Blue Hose hit three-of-three three-pointers to open the game. UNC Asheville capitalized on a suddenly cold shooting PC team the next seven minutes with a 15-2 run to take a 22-15 lead 7:21 left before intermission.
The Blue Hose cut the UNCA lead to four with 2:06 to go but Chris Stephenson hit five unanswered down the stretch to give the Bulldogs the 33-24 halftime lead.
The Blue Hose shot 43.1 percent for the game, while UNCA was 25-of-50 from the field for 50.0 percent. PC was nine-of-23 from beyond the three-point arc, with Miller hitting six of them. The Bulldogs were six-of-15. UNC Asheville edged the Blue Hose in rebounds, 30-29 and had three less turnovers, 12-15.
Following Jaron Lane and his team-leading 23 points for UNC Asheville was J.P. Primm with 16. Jeremy Atkinson paced the team in rebounds with seven. PC was led by Miller with 18 points, followed by Al'Lonzo Coleman (Charlotte, N.C.) and Khalid Mutakabbir (Suwanee, Ga.) with 12 apiece. Coleman posted the fifth double-double of the season and second in a row with his team-leading 13 rebounds.
PC is next in action Thursday, Jan. 26 against Coastal Carolina with tip-off at the Templeton Center at 7 p.m. All home games and Big South road games will be broadcast on the Big South Sports Network Sponsored by State Farm at www.BigSouthSports.com. For a nominal fee, fans can catch all the action live and still be able to catch archived games from the season.
Fans can also listen for free on the radio at WLBG 860-AM or www.GoBlueHose.com, with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m.
