The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers handed the Presbyterian College men's basketball team a 63-52 loss on Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C.
PC falls to 7-14 overall and 3-5 in the Big South Conference. The Blue Hose will close out the opening half of the conference schedule on Monday night when they host High Point at 7 p.m. at the Templeton Center. Coastal falls to 15-5 overall, 6-2 in conference play, and host Winthrop on Wednesday night.
PC got out to an early 10-5 lead that Coastal trimmed to 10-9 with 9:51 to play. The Blue Hose stretched the lead back to five points, 16-11, with 7:10 on the clock, but the Chants scored nine unanswered points and took a lead at 5:17 that they held onto for the rest of the game. Josh Cameron hit a three for Coastal with 1:30 to play that gave the hosts a 6-point, 26-20 lead at halftime. William Truss (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) and DeSean Murray (Stanley, N.C.) led PC in the low-scoring first half with six points apiece. PC was on the low side of turnovers in the first half, 7-4, but was significantly out-rebounded by the Chants, 29-10.
The Blue Hose scored the first four points of the second half and kept it within three points for the first seven minutes of play. The Chants began to pull away, though, as they outscored PC 19-6 over the next seven minutes to take a 16-point, 50-34 lead. Jordan Downing (Huntersville, N.C.) sank three treys and made both of his foul shots down the stretch for the Blue Hose to keep them within 12-13 points during the final five minutes of the game.
Downing scored 15 second-half points en route to a team-high 17 points for the Blue Hose. Murray finished the game with 14 points while, Truss came home with nine points. Davon Bell (Charlotte, N.C.) and Murray evenly split six assists for PC, while Downing and Murray each had six boards for the visiting Blue Hose.
Cameron led the Chants with 16 points. Warren Gillis had 11 points, while Badou Diagne and Shivauughn Wiggins scored 10 apiece. Diagne and Tristian Curtis led the rebounding effort for the hosts with 11 and 10, respectfully, while Wiggins dished out six assists.
PC finished the game shooting 42% (19-45) and 79% (11-14) from the foul line. Coastal shot 37% (21-57) from the field and 84% (16-19) in free throws.
