CLINTON, S.C.  –  Crosby James led all scorers with 20 points but the Presbyterian Blue Hose (5-12, Big South: 1-3) lost to the Charleston Southern Buccaneers (6-9, Big South: 2-2), 67-61, at the Templeton Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
James shot 9-for-11 from the free-throw line on the way to his 20-point performance. Jalen Forrest scored 13 points off the bench. Owen McCormack scored nine points. Terrell Ard, Jr. scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. Kobe Stewart led the Blue Hose with eight rebounds.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF – The story of the half was scoring runs by both teams. Charleston Southern scored fourteen of the first 18 points taking a 14-4 lead just over seven minutes into the game. With Charleston Southern leading 19-8, the Blue Hose went on a 12-0 run taking a 20-19 lead after James connected on two free throws with 6:06 on the clock. James scored eight points during the run, and McCormack and Stewart also scored during the scoring run.  Charleston Southern scored five straight points to regain the lead, 24-20. Forrest and James would each make two free throws over the final four minutes of the half. The Bucs led the Blue Hose, 29-24, at the half.
 
SECOND HALF – Charleston Southern scored the first four points of the second half taking a 33-24 lead just two minutes into the half. At the 17-minute mark, Charleston Southern led the Blue Hose, 36-27, then Presbyterian outscored Charleston Southern, 11-5, over the next four minutes cutting the Bucs lead to 41-38 after Stewart knocked down a three from the baseline. Charleston Southern maintained a lead of 3-6 points for the next seven minutes. The Bucs led the Blue Hose, 55-50, with 4:47 on the clock, PC behind a layup by Trevon Reddish-Rhone and a three from the top of the key by McCormack tied the score at 55. Charleston Southern regained the lead by two points after a basket inside thirty seconds later. McCormack tied the score at 57 with a jump shot in the lane with 2:50 on the clock. Charleston Southern regained the lead for good with a three in front of their bench with two and a half minutes on the clock. The Blue Hose were never able to get any closer to the Bucs for the rest of the game.
 

NOTES

• James's 20 points was his third 20-point scoring game of the season.
• Forrest tallied his seventh double-figure scoring game off the bench this season with his 13-point performance.
• With 14 offensive rebounds, Presbyterian has tallied 11 double-figure offensive rebound games.

 
NEXT GAME
Presbyterian finishes their two-game Big South Conference homestand against Gardner-Webb at the Templeton Center on Wednesday, January 11 at 7 p.m.