William Truss scored a career-high 25 points, while Jordan Downing added 23 to lead the Presbyterian College men's basketball team to the 74-69 win over Appalachian State in action tonight at the Templeton Center.
PC, which collected its first ever victory over the Mountaineers, moved to 4-9 on the year, while ASU dropped to 2-8. After a holiday break, the Blue Hose are back in action Dec. 30 at Samford.
Truss played one of his most efficient games, connecting on a career-best 10-of-12 field goals, while pulling down a team-leading seven rebounds. Downing quietly recorded 23 points, helped by a perfect six-of-six effort from the free throw line.
Tab Hamilton paced ASU with 33 points, with Michael Obacha pulling down 14 rebounds.
The Mountaineers were held to 37.1% shooting from the floor, while the Blue Hose shot 49.0%, including 50% in the second half off an 11-of-22 effort. ASU edged PC on the boards, 36-32, and had one more turnover, 15-14. PC was six-of-13 from beyond the three-point arc, while ASU hit nine-of-26.
Appalachian State opened the game with a 14-2 run, scoring the game's first 10 points before PC got on the board with a Danny Herrera layup at 17:43. A three-pointer by Downing at 17:28 sparked a 14-2 run, which included 10 unanswered points during the stretch, which saw the Blue Hose take the four-point, 22-18 lead, with 11:49 to go before intermission.
PC held a multiple point lead the remainder of the half, except when the Mountaineers took a one point, 30-29, lead off a layup by Hamilton and two free throws by Rantavius Gilbert with 4:07 on the clock. Herrera answered with five straight, off free throws and a three-pointer, to put PC back on top by four, 34-30, at 3:42.
A Hamilton three cut the margin to one, 38-37, with under a minute to play, but a Truss free throw at the end of the half gave PC the two-point edge at halftime, 39-37.
The Blue Hose and Mountaineers battled back and forth to open the second half with ASU seeming to have an answer for every PC play. App. State took a two-point lead off another Hamilton three-pointer at 14:25, before a basket and a free throw helped PC retake the lead.
Downing's long range jumper at 12:34 gave the Blue Hose a three-point lead and they never looked back, using a 9-4 run to extend the margin to eight, 62-54, with 4:59 on the clock.
Appalachian State rallied in the final minutes, outscoring PC 10-6, and cutting the lead to four, 68-64, off a Tevin Baskin three-pointer with 53 seconds remaining.
The Blue Hose connected on six-of-six free throws the final minute to hold off the Mountaineers and take the five-point, 74-69 win.
