The Presbyterian College men's basketball team opened the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Friday night with a 63-38 loss to the American Eagles at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, La.
The Blue Hose fall to 1-2 overall, while American improves to 2-1. PC takes on Morehead State Saturday at 9:30 p.m., as part of continuing tournament action. American takes on host Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m.
Downing led the Blue Hose with 18 points off an eight-of-15 effort from the field. Markus Terry followed with eight, after going two-for-three from beyond the arc. William Truss pulled down six rebounds, followed by Austin Anderson with five. PC shot 44.4% from the field, including 47.1% in the first half.
John Schoof paced American with 19 points, most of them coming off a five-of-eight performance in three-pointers. Kevin Panzer recorded 16, while Jesse Reed added 14 points to his team-leading seven rebounds. The Eagles shot 48.9% for the game, including 52.4% from the three-point arc.
American held the slight 25-22 edge in rebounds but led 21-10 in turnovers, resulting in a 24-8 margin in points for the Eagles off those errors.
Early three-pointers by Downing and Terry helped the Blue Hose to an 8-3 lead with 16:48 to go in the half, as the Eagles went 0-for-six from the floor. PC continued to hold the lead for the next several minutes, leading by five at 17-12 with 8:20 left in the half off a Downing jumper.
American recorded two quick baskets to cut the PC lead to 17-16 before an Anderson layup made it a three-point game, 19-16, with 6:07 on the clock. The Eagle defense began clicking and forced six turnovers for the Blue Hose as American rattled off 10 unanswered, connecting on five of seven shots, the remainder of the half to take the 26-19 lead into the locker room.
Downing opened the second half by ending the scoring drought with a jumper at the 18:56 mark to cut American's lead to five, 26-21. After an American basket made it 28-21, both teams traded three-pointers twice, the last coming from Reed to give the Eagles the 34-27 lead. It started a 7-0 run as American took the 11-point, 38-27 lead.
PC responded with two quick baskets, by Truss and Downing, to cut the margin back to seven, 38-31, with 11:51 to go. The Eagles answered with 15 unanswered, nine straight coming from Panzer, to take their largest lead of the game to that point, 53-31, with 6:18 remaining.
Downing's basket at 5:56 ended the drought for PC as the Blue Hose trailed 53-33, with 5:56 to go. PC and American traded baskets the remainder of the game with the Blue Hose unable to chip away at the Eagle lead. American ended the game with two straight baskets to come away with the 63-38 win.
