The Presbyterian College men's basketball team used 27 points from Jordan Downing and solid free throw shooting down the stretch to grab a Big South Conference victory, defeating Longwood 77-62 at the Templeton Center.
Along with Downing, three other players reached double digits in scoring for PC, with Markus Terry and Reggie Dillard tallying 15 each, and Ed Drew chipping in a season high 12 points in his fourth career start. Drew also had a game-high five blocks for the Blue Hose. William Truss paced the defense with 11 boards.
Longwood was led by Tristan Carey and Jeylani Dublin, who each scored 15 points, and Lucas Woodhouse recorded a game-high six assists.
Pc moves to 5-19 on the year and 1-8 in conference play, while the Lancers move to 7-17 overall and drop to 2-7 in Big South action.
The story of the first half was solid shooting by the Blue Hose and a stingy defense that saw eight blocks, five coming from Drew. PC hit 10 of 22 shots in the half, including three in an 8-0 run that took the Blue Hose lead from 16-12 at the 8:30 mark to 24-14 with 5:34 to go before intermission.
The remainder of the half saw both teams trade baskets as PC headed into the locker room with the double-digit lead, 35-34.
The first five minutes of the second half saw both teams trading baskets, and the Blue Hose leading by 11 points, 45-34 at the 14:43 mark. Longwood, however, went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to single digits off a Fisher three-pointer with 13:25 on the clock to make it 45-39. Dillard responded with a three of his own to know the lead up to nine, 48-39, and the teams again traded baskets for the next couple of minutes.
Leading by eight off a three-pointer by Downing, Carey knocked one from long range to cut the margin back to five at 7:28 before Drew connected on a layup the next possession to make it a seven point game, 57-50.
Downing came through again after the Lancers cut the lead to five, drawing a foul on his third three-pointer of the night. He made the free throw, completing the four point play and extending the lead back up to nine points, 61-52at 5:12.
Longwood hit back-to-back baskets and pulled within five points at the 3:38 mark, but that was as close as the Lancers would get as the Blue Hose hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Dillard and Terry each converted one-and-ones to go up 67-58 with 2:13 left in the game, and PC came away with the eventual 77-62 victory.
PC hit 22 of 48 from the floor, and finished with a 45.8 shooting percentage, helped by a 3-4 effort from behind the three point line in the second half. Longwood finished the game shooting at a 32.9 percent clip and went 5-22 from long range.
The Blue Hose are back in action on Saturday at the Templeton Center when they face Radford in a Big South matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
