Hampton, Va. –The Presbyterian College men's basketball team rallied from a double-digit deficit to take a one-point lead with under 10 seconds remaining, but Hampton hit a three-pointer with under three to play to give the Pirates the 67-65 win over the Blue Hose in first round action of the Hercules Tires Big South Championship held in Hampton, Va. Owen McCormack led PC with a career-high 22 points.
 
Scoring the Game
Owen McCormack hit a three-pointer 30 seconds into the first half, but Hampton hit the next five of the game's six baskets, building a 12-5 lead, 14:02 in the clock. McCormack responded for the Blue Hose with a jumper and back-to-back free throws to make it a three-point game just over 12 to play. After the Pirates increased the margin back to nine, Trevon Reddish recorded a free throw and two straight scores and PC trailed by just four, 15-19, 9:10 left. A six-point contest at the six-minute mark, Hampton, highlighted by a couple of threes, went on an 11-0 run to take its largest lead of the half, 36-19. McCormack closed out the half with a basket, free throw and three-pointer to send the Blue Hose into the locker room down by only 11, 25-36.
 
The Blue Hose began the second half where they left off, using a 12-2 run, including 10 unanswered, to cut it to a one-point game, 37-38, 15:43 left. Six unanswered by Hampton, which included four free throws, and the Pirates extended the lead to seven, 44-37, 14:02 to go.  A half of back and forth runs, PC scored six, highlighted by a Rayshon Harrison three, to make it a one-point game again, 43-44, 12:32 remaining. The Pirates came back with a 10-4 run, taking a seven-point, 54-47 lead, 8:38 left. A six-point game a minute later, Harrison collected a jumper and two free throws to make it a two-point game.
 
After a Davion Warren basket at 5:31 gave Hampton a four-point lead again, Reddish responded with a three-pointer, his first of the afternoon, to cut the margin to one again, 57-58, 5:03 to go. After going from a one-point lead to a three-point lead a couple of times over the next two minutes, Hampton got up to four at 2:34 off a free throw from Russell Dean..  It was short lived with Winston Hill adding a basket and free throw at 2:07, putting PC on the cusp for the third time in a span of three minutes. Trailing by two after a Hampton free throw, McCormack made a layup, was fouled, and added a free throw to give PC the lead for the first time since early in the first half, 65-64, nine seconds remaining.  Raymond Bethea answered for Hampton with a three-pointer with just 2.9 seconds left, to put the home team ahead 67-65.  PC missed a last second shot, and the Pirates advanced to the quarterfinals with the 67-65 win.
 
Players of the Game
Owen McCormack led all scorers with a career-high 22 points, helped by three three-pointers.  Trevon Reddish, who posted 17 points, paced the Blue Hose with eight rebounds. Rayshon Harrison scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half as PC mounted its rally. Davion Warren led Hampton with 19 points and six rebounds.
 
Stats of the Game
Hampton took the first half, 36-25, but it was PC in the second, 40-31. After shooting 31.0% in the first half, the Blue Hose shot 46.7% in the second to finish with 39.0%. Hampton shot in the 50s both stanzas, ending the game with 55.0%. The Blue Hose hit one more three-pointer, 7-6, and went 16-of-21 from the charity stripe to PC's 13-of-17. The Blue Hose outrebounded the Pirates, 32-18, and had four fewer turnovers 11-15. With its 12-2 advantage in offensive rebounds, PC went 19-2 in second chance points.
 
Notables
Owen McCormack scored a career-high 22 points.
 
For the Record
The Blue Hose drops to 7-15 overall, 5-12 in the Big South, while Hampton moves to 11-13, 9-9.
 
Up Next
The season ends for PC, while Hampton travels to # 2 seed Radford, Monday, Mar. 1, for a 6pm game.