Al'Lonzo Coleman scored a career-high 30 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in his last collegiate game, leading the Presbyterian College men's basketball team to the 68-62 win over Gardner Webb this afternoon at the Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, N.C.
PC ends the 2011-12 season with a 14-10 overall mark and 8-10 in the Big South. Gardner Webb falls to 12-19, 6-12. The 14 wins is a PC Division I record.
PC led by eight early in the second half, but GWU strung together six unanswered to make it 38-36 in favor of PC with 15:34 left. A Khalid Mutakabbir free throw at 14:54 ended the drought. In all, it was a 15-5 run that saw Gardner Webb take a 45-43 lead with 11:43 remaining.
GWU led by three, 47-44, with 9:33 to go before PC cut it to one with a basket by Coleman at 8:27. PC took the lead briefly off a Josh Clyburn jumper before GWU responded with a basket of its own to make it just a 49-48 Blue Hose lead with 6:30 on the clock.
Both teams traded the lead the next couple of minutes with PC taking a three-point lead, 54-51 with 4:56 left. GWU cut the lead back to one at 4:14 before a 6-0 run by PC took the Blue Hose up 60-53 with 2:20 left.
The Bulldogs used two back-to-back three-pointers to cut the PC lead to two 64-62 with 1:01 to go before heading to the line with the chance to tie the game with 22 seconds to go. Laron Buggs missed both and Kevin Hartley pulled down the offensive rebound to give GWU the ball back. Eric Washington stole the ball, however, and ran it down the court for the fast break lay-up to go up by four with 17 ticks on the clock.
Gardner Webb turned it over on the next possession after having the ball stripped by Coleman. He was fouled and sank two free throws to give the Blue Hose the six-point 68-62 win.
Tied 9-9 with 11:46 to go in the half, Gardner Webb used a 6-1 run to take a 15-10 lead with 8:22 on the clock. PC responded with a 6-2 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Pierre Miller, to make it 16-15 in favor of the Blue Hose at the 7:14 mark.
Gardner Webb responded with a basket at 6:27 to re-take the lead but the Blue Hose answered by outscoring the Runnin' Bulldogs 11-6 over the next three-and-a-half minutes and led 27-21 with just 3:02 left.
The Bulldogs cut the margin to two, 26-28, before PC scored five straight to make it a seven-point game, 33-26 with six seconds left. Tyler Strange hit a lay-up as time expired to make it five, 33-28, at intermission.
Following Coleman and his 30 points and 14 boards, which gave him his 11th double-double of the season, was Mutakabbir with 10 points. Buggs led Gardner Webb with 19 points, followed by Donta Harper and his 14. Stefon Johnson had a team-leading six rebounds as well.
PC shot 55.8 percent from the field in the game, compared to 42.4 for GWU. The Blue Hose connected on 18-of-30 free throws, while the Runnin' Bulldogs hit eight-of-14. PC held the rebounding advantage, 34-28, including a 27-17 edge on the defensive end. GWU had four less turnovers, 8-12.
