CLINTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College men's basketball team launched a comeback bid from a 13-point second half deficit to nearly earn a home win against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Thursday night, but the visitors held on in a wild Big South matchup as PC fell by three points, 52-49.
PC moves to 8-12 on the year and 2-8 in Big South Conference play. Coastal Carolina improves to 15-5 overall and 8-2 in league competition.
The Blue Hose bounced back from a cold shooting performance in the first half and chipped away at the Chanticleers' lead, holding Coastal Carolina to 8-for-22 from the floor in the second half (36.4 percent) while shooting 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) themselves. The Chanticleers entered the game with the nation's third-best shooting percentage at 50.5 percent.
PC trailed by 13 points with 14:38 to go in the game, but the Blue Hose went on an 8-0 run to set the stage for a frantic final 10 minutes of play.
Khalid Mutakabbir (Suwanee, Ga.) led all players with a game-high 23 points in 40 minutes of play, the only member of the Blue Hose to score in double figures. Joshua Clyburn (Charlotte, N.C.) led PC on the boards, grabbing a total of five rebounds and providing several key moments in the game's waning moments.
Mutakabbir picked up two of his 18 second half points with a floater that capped the 8-0 PC run and cut Coastal lead to five, 36-41. Mutakabbir then erased an old-fashioned Anthony Raffa three-point play at the other end with a three-point jumper to make the score 39-34 with 10:02 to go.
Coastal found five points but the Chanticleers also found foul trouble, putting the Blue Hose in the bonus with eight minutes to play. William Truss (Birmingham, Ala.) converted one free throw and cashed in on a layup on the next possession as PC continued to stay within two possessions, 44-39, with 7:09 remaining.
The visitors kept their lead at five until a pair of Raffa free throws and a timeout halted the action with 4:32 left on the clock and Coastal ahead, 48-41.
Mutakabbir then knocked down a leaner, drew a foul and converted the free throw to get PC within four on the team's next possession, 48-44.
The Chanticleers took advantage of two free throws to go up by two and looked for more on a Raffa putback attempt, but Clyburn swatted the attempt out of the air and Josh Johnson (Hendersonville, Tenn.) grabbed the loose ball.
The ball worked its way up the court to Mutakabbir, who drained a three pointer to slash the Coastal lead in half, 50-47, and a PC timeout stopped the game with 1:24 to go.
Clyburn came up big again 30 seconds later, grabbing a rebound off of a missed Chanticleer three-pointer. With five seconds left on the shot clock, a Coastal foul sent Mutakabbir to the line to shoot two and the junior knocked down both, making the score 50-49 with 21.3 seconds to go.
A PC foul put Raffa in a one-and-one situation and he hit both as well, restoring the three-point lead with 15.8 seconds remaining. A Blue Hose timeout reset the action with 12.8 seconds left on the clock and the home side down by three, 52-49.
The inbound pass found Mutakkabbir, whose three-pointer fell short and the Chanticleers gained possession. Sam McLaurin missed his first free throw after getting fouled and Ryan Hargrave (Taylorsville, N.C.) grabbed the rebound. Hargrave give the ball to Pierre Miller,(Warner Robbins, Ga.) who raced down the floor and tried a contested game-tying three-pointer. The shot rimmed out, however, and Coastal escaped with the 52-49 win.
The game began with an evenly-matched opening period. The Blue Hose took their first lead of the game four minutes in by stringing together a 6-0 run, capped by a Johnson three-pointer to put the home team ahead, 8-6.
Coastal Carolina answered, but PC eventually stepped in front again on a Mutakabbir free throw to put PC up, 13-12, with 8:57 before halftime. Mutakabbir finished the frame as PC's leading scorer with five points.
The PC lead proved short-lived, however, as the Chanticleers outscored the Blue Hose 12-5 down the stretch thanks to five Raffa points during the run as Coastal led heading into the locker room, 25-18. PC's seven-point shortfall came as the Blue Hose struggled from the floor, shooting 5-for-21 at a 23.8 percent clip in the opening 20 minutes.
The Chanticleers kept up the pressure to begin the second half, leading 32-22 at the first media timeout, with 15:42 remaining in the game. PC worked to chip away at the double-digit deficit and moments later the Blue Hose kicked off its crucial stretch of play with a Mutakabbir trey and a long-range Miller three-pointer that brought the Garnet and Blue back to within seven, 36-29.
PC returns to action on Saturday night, hosting Charleston Southern at 7:30 p.m. in the second half of a Blue Hose basketball doubleheader. The men's game will follow a matchup between the PC women's team and Campbell at 5 p.m. Both games can be seen on the Big South Network and free audio will be available on GoBlueHose.com and 860 WLBG-AM.
