The Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb earned an 81-64 win against Presbyterian College in the Big South Conference opener for both teams on Wednesday night at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
The Blue Hose fall to 4-10 overall and 0-1 in conference play and will travel to Liberty this weekend for a 7 p.m. game against the Flames on Saturday night. Gardner-Webb improves to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in the Big South with the conference-opening victory. They will take on UNC Asheville on the road Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Jordan Downing (Huntersville, N.C.) led all scorers with 28 points. William Truss (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) came home with a double-double on 14 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. Ed Drew (Suffolk, Va.) scored seven points and Austin Anderson (Piedmont, S.C.) recorded five assists for the Blue Hose.
Tyrell Nelson tallied 21 points and 11 boards for the visiting Runnin' Bulldogs. Jerome Hill also had a double-double on 19 points and 12 rebounds. Jarvis Davis and Harold McBride each had 11 points apiece and Tyler Strange dished out an impressive 10 assists for the victors.
The Blue Hose held a slight advantage in field goals with 51.9% compared to Gardner-Webb's 51.7%. PC was 4-of-6 from the foul line, while the Runnin' Bulldogs were 9-of-10. The visitors out-rebounded the Blue Hose, 34-22, but were on the high side of turnovers with nine compared to PC's eight miscues.
PC held a 6-5 lead early in the first half, which would stand as the only lead of the game for the Blue Hose. Gardner-Webb scored eight unanswered points midway through the half to take a 13-point, 23-10 lead with 11:11 on the clock. The visitors led by as much as 14 during the half, but the Blue Hose cut it to five points, 26-21, with a nine-point scoring run at 7:31. Gardner-Webb maintained a steady lead for the remainder of the half, but PC cut it to six points once and seven points on three occasions, as the Runnin' Bulldogs held a 41-32 lead at the break.
Downing scored 14 points in the first half for the Blue Hose. Hill and Nelson paced Gardner-Webb in the first frame with 13 points apiece.
Gardner-Webb opened the second half by outscoring the Blue Hose 12-2 in the opening three and a half minutes to take a commanding 19-point, 53-34, lead. PC cut it to 59-47 with 11 minutes to play, but the Runnin' Bulldogs continued to pull away, as they led by a game-high 21 points with 3:38 left in the game.
