CLINTON, S.C. – William Truss (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) posted a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and went a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor for the Presbyterian College men's basketball team on Tuesday night, but the Blue Hose could not stop a hot-shooting High Point Panthers team that took an 81-74 victory from PC at Templeton Center.
PC moves to 4-18 on the year and 0-7 in the Big South Conference. The Blue Hose will next head to VMI for a Saturday night tilt at 7 p.m. High Point improves to 8-12 overall, 4-3 in league play and hosts Wintrhop on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Blue Hose enjoyed a solid shooting night with a 55.1 percent performance, led by Truss. Four Blue Hose scored in double figures as Jordan Downing (Huntersville, N.C.) scored 19 points, Reggie Dillard (Greensboro, N.C.) chipped in 14 and Markus Terry (Johns Creek, Ga.) added 10. PC also edged High Point in rebounds, 27 to 23.
High Point went 14-for-22 on three-point field goals (63.6 percent), hitting seven in each half. The Panthers used shots from distance to build its lead in the first frame, going 7-for-12 on three-pointers. A trey put the Panthers up by seven after the game's second media timeout and John Brown made it a 10-point game with a loud dunk midway through the half.
Dillard answered Brown with a sweet kiss off the glass to start a 6-0 Blue Hose run. Truss followed with a layup inside before Dillard hit two free throws that cut the gap to four.
Three unanswered three-pointers—two from Devante Wallace, one from Lorenzo Cugini—pushed High Point back up to 13. Downing and Truss continued to chip away at the lead, but another trey from Wallace and a Brown layup extended the visitors' advantage to 16 points.
With less than two minutes to go in the half, the Blue Hose roared back. Will Adams (Johnson City, Tenn.) knocked down a three-pointer from the corner and Truss got free inside for another layup in traffic. Dillard capped the half with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to make it a 41-33 score at halftime.
Truss led all players at the break with 13 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting effort. In addition to High Point's strong three-point shooting, the Panthers scored off of all eight PC turnovers in the opening period as well.
High Point picked up from where it left off in the first half, as Devante Wallace hit four treys in the first four minutes. The Panther would finish with a game-high 28 points thanks to an 8-for-9 night from long range.
The Panthers' lead hovered around 14 points for much of the second half. Every time PC pulled to within single digits, another High Point three-pointer would push PC back. The Blue Hose rattled off an 11-5 run to make it 67-58 at the 4:56 mark before an Anthony Lindauer trey. The same thing happened 50 seconds later as PC ran into trouble against the hot-shooting Panthers.
Down by 16 with 2:16 to go, PC continued to battle by scoring seven straight points. Downing hit two free throws and Dillard drained a three-pointer. Truss capped the run to make it a nine-point deficit with 51 seconds to go.
Three-pointers from Austin Anderson (Piedmont, S.C.) and Terry whittled High Point's lead to seven in the closing seconds, but the Panthers' lead would stand in an 81-74 final.
