Liberty used a 14-4 run to erase a double-digit Blue Hose lead late in the second half, but the Presbyterian College men's basketball defense held the Flames to just three points the final minute and a half to preserve the 62-58 win Saturday night at the Vines Center in Lynchburg, Va. DeSean Murray led PC with a career-high 16 points and 11 rebounds in his return from an early-season injury.
PC improves to 5-10 overall and 1-1 in the Big South, while Liberty falls to 6-9, 0-2. The Blue Hose host Winthrop Thursday, Jan. 8, at 7:30 p.m., in their next game.
Following Murray and his 16 points and 11 rebounds was Jordan Downing with 14 points and William Truss with 10. Liberty was led by Joe Retic with 14 points and Ethan Layer with 12. Andrew Smith and Theo Johnson paced the team on the boards with seven rebounds apiece.
PC shot 50% from the field and was 10-of-22 from the charity stripe. Liberty was 38.2% from the field and 11-of-21 in free throws. The Flames pulled down 38 rebounds, compared to 33 for PC. Turnovers were fairly even with Liberty holding the 12-11 edge. PC controlled the paint, 40-26, with Liberty owning the bench scoring, 32-4.
Trailing 2-0 early in the first half, the Blue Hose scored eight unanswered, behind four points from Downing, to take an 8-2 lead with 15:44 to go in the half. The Flames used a small 4-0 run to chip away at the PC lead and trail by just three, 10-7, with 12:22 to go.
Liberty cut the lead to one, 12-11, off a Retic basket with 9:09 on the clock, But PC's Downing responded with a jumper at 8:49 to know the lead back up to three, 14-11.
PC offense began to click a little as the Blue Hose scored the game's next six of seven points, which included four from Murray, to take a 20-12 lead with 5:50 left in the half.
The eight-point lead was short-lived as Liberty's Ryan Kemrite hit the game's first three-pointer to make it a five-point game, 20-15, 5:25 left.
Murray was fouled 30 seconds later and hit both free throws to make it a seven point game, 4:58 on the clock. Both teams traded baskets the final five minutes as the Blue Hose headed to the lock room with a seven-point, 31-24, lead, helped in part by a three-pointer by Downing, with 1:18 left.
The Blue Hose opened the second half with a 9-2 run, building a 14-point, 40-26 lead with 16:21 left. A jumper and three-pointer by Liberty cut the margin to single digits, 40-31, before a Murray basket at 14:11 made it an 11-point game, 42-31.
Trailing by 12, the Flames began a comeback, scoring five off a three-pointer by Layer and a layup by Kemrite, to cut the margin to its lowest of the half at seven, 45-38, with 10:41 left. Downing's layup and free throw helped quell the Flame rally, taking the PC margin up to 10, 48-38, with 9:51 on the clock.
Liberty fought back with four unanswered to cut the PC lead to just seven, 52-45, 5:43 remaining. PC took the lead up to nine, 56-47, before Liberty used a 6-0 run, four coming from Retic, to cut the margin to just three, 56-53, with 2:37 left. Two free throws by Johnson and the margin was just one, 56-55, 1:44 to go.
PC would not be denied the win, as Truss connected on a dunk the next possession, with Markus Terry adding back to back baskets to shoot the Blue Hose back up to seven, 62-55, 23 seconds left. Layer hit a three-pointer five seconds later to make it a four-point game, but solid defense by PC prevented the Flames from scoring again, to give the visiting team the four-point, 62-58 win.
