William Truss scored 20 points, including five in a 15-2 run, to lead the Blue Hose back from a 15-point deficit to within two late in the second half, only to have Gardner-Webb take the eventual 67-58 win over the Presbyterian College men's basketball team in action this afternoon at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
PC drops to 4-15 overall, 0-4 in the Big South, while GWU improves to 9-10, 2-2. The Blue Hose next host Coastal Carolina Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m.
Naji Hibbert led Gardner-Webb with 18 points, followed by Tyler Strange with 17. Jerome Hill, who had 10 points on the afternoon, led on the boards with seven.
Following Truss and his 20 points was Markus Terry with 12. Truss paced the team defensively with eight rebounds as well.
PC shot 43.6% from the field, while GWU shot 45.3%. The Runnin' Bulldogs the slight edge on rebounds, 32-28, and had three less turnovers, 14-17. PC continued to struggle from the perimeter, going two-for-13, compared to seven-for-19 for GWU. In a game that saw a combined 35 fouls, PC was 22-of-30, and GWU was 12-of-16 from the charity stripe.
The Runnin' Bulldogs extended its two-point halftime lead to 12 the opening six and a half minutes of the second half, outscoring the Blue Hose 17-7 en route to the 47-35 lead with 13:34 remaining. GWU extended its lead to 15 off a Donta Harper basket at 8:42.
A Terry jumper at 8:39 ignited the Blue Hose offense, which scored nine unanswered before Jerome Hill snapped the GWU drought at 5:51. That would be the only visitor basket until the three-minute mark as Truss' two baskets led a 6-0 effort to cut the margin to two, 56-58, with 3:01 left.
Tyrell Nelson connected on a lay-up at 2:30, and after a costly PC turnover, Hibbert hit a three-pointer, his fourth of the afternoon, to give GWU the seven-point, 63-56, lead at 1:48. Austin Anderson's layup with 31 seconds left would be the only points the Blue Hose would see down the stretch as the Runnin' Bulldogs came away with the nine-point, 67-58 win at the end.
Down 12-13 with 11:30 remaining in the first half, PC scored seven unanswered, three coming from Terry, to build its largest lead of the half, 19-13, with 8:03 on the clock.
The Runnin' Bulldogs fired off 11 straight, five from Hibbert, to retake the lead, 24-19, with 5:08 left before intermission. Hibbert's three-pointer at 1:53 helped GWU extend its lead to six, 30-24, before the Blue Hose ended the half with four straight to cut the margin to two at the break, 30-28.
