After the Buccaneers opened the second half with a 16-4 run to take a double-digit lead, the Blue Hose rallied to retake the lead, but could not hang on down the stretch, as the Presbyterian College men's basketball team dropped a 74-66 decision at Charleston Southern in Big South action Thursday evening in Charleston, S.C. Cory Hightower led PC with 15 points, with Ben Drake tops on the boards with eight.
 
Scoring the Game
Charleston Southern jumped out to a 7-2 lead early in the first half, but Cory Hightower came back with a layup and three-pointer in less than 30 seconds to tie the game, 7-7, 15:01 to go in the first. A tight battle the next several minutes PC took a three-point lead, 16-13, off back to back baskets in the 11^th minute. CSU hit a three-pointer to tie the game, but Kody Shubert responded with a three to give PC the three-point lead again, 19-16, 10:19 on the clock. It ignited a 6-2 run that saw the Blue Hose open up a four-point lead, 22-18, 8:32 left before the break. CSU responded with a 10-2 run, which included back to back three-pointers, to jump ahead 28-24, 3:56 to go.  A couple of Buc fouls put the Blue Hose at the line, and they hit four to knot the contest at 28-28, just over three to play. Malike Battle hit a three at 2:46, giving the home team the 31-28 lead.  PC hit two more free throws to cut the lead to one, but Phlandrous Fleming hit a jumper at the 1:49 mark to give the Bucs a three-point lead. Shubert hit his second three-pointer of the night as time expired, sending both teams to the locker room tied at 33-33.
 
The Bucs stormed out of the gates in the second half, taking a 10-point, 45-35 lead, 15 minutes in the clock, off a 12-2 run, which included back to back three-pointers. Trailing by 37049, 13:07 to go, PC offense began clicking, with a Shubert layup starting a 17-6 run, including six points from Isler, to cut the margin to only one, 54-55, 8:47 to go.  CSU used a layup by Sadarius Bowser to take back the three-point lead, just over eight to go, but a couple of free throws and a JC Younger three-pointer at 6:53 gave PC its first lead since early in the first half, 59-57. The lead was short-lived with Duncan LeXander hitting back to back three-pointers, and Fleming adding a layup, to give the home team the 65-59 lead, 3:04 remaining. PC cut it back to four off two Isler free throws, but the Bucs hit two free throws and added a layup to increase the lead to eight, 69-61, 53 seconds to go. A Younger three-pointer with seven seconds to go made it a five-point game, but CSU hit three free throws at the end, giving the Bucs the win by the final of 74-66.
 
Players of the Game
Cory Hightower led the team with 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Ben Drake was tops on the team in rebounds with eight. Michael Isler recorded 12 points, with Kody Shubert adding 10 points. Phlandrous Fleming led Charleston Southern with 25 points and nine rebounds.
 
Stats of the Game
PC was hot in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 52.4%, compared to 45.2% for CSU, but was a little colder in the second after shooting 37.0% to post 43.8% for the game.  CSU finished with 48.3% for the game. The Blue Hose held a 35-29 advantage in rebounds, but had six more turnovers, 15-9. The Bucs scored 24 points off those turnovers, compared to eight for PC.  The Blue Hose hit 17 free throws to the Bucs' nine.
 
Notables
Michael Isler was a career-high eight-of-nine from the charity stripe.
 
For the Record
PC drops to 8-12 overall and 5-2 in the big South, while Charleston Southern improves to 10-9, 4-3.
 
Up Next
The Blue Hose head to Rock Hill Jan 25, for a 2 p.m., game against Winthrop.  The game will air live on ESPN+ and on the radio at WPCC.