Wednesday,
March 5, 2003
2003 Food Lion/South Atlantic Conference Men’s
Basketball Tournament — Quarterfinals
BLUE HOSE WIN DEFENSIVE STRUGGLE 61-56 OVER TUSCULUM
#4 seed Presbyterian advances to Food Lion/SAC Tourney
semifinals with victory
CLINTON,
S.C. — The #4-seeded Blue Hose of Presbyterian College
fueled by three players in double figures advanced to the Food
Lion/SAC Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinals with
tonight’s 61-54 win over #5 seeded Pioneers of Tusculum
College.
Presbyterian jumped out of
the gate on a 10-1 run and held Tusculum without a made field
goal until the 14:54 mark when sophomore guard Andrew
Harmon (Germantown, Wis.) scored to cut the PC lead to
10-4. The Pioneers would continue to chip away at the lead
pulling to within three points on three occasions with the
last time coming at 22-19 with 7:11 remaining. PC would
outscore Tusculum 11-9 down the stretch to take a 33-28 lead
into intermission.
Both teams shot extremely
well in the first half as Tusculum hit 55.0% of the their
field goals to PC’s 50.0%. The Blue Hose held a 15-10 lead
on the boards and were led by senior center Rod
Isom’s (Anderson, S.C.) seven points while Tusculum
was paced by junior forward Brandon Jones’ (Loveland, Colo.) 11 points.
The second half saw the
Blue Hose extend the lead to double figures, the largest lead
being 12 points at 47-35 with 10:09 remaining. Isom helped PC
extend the lead to double figures and in the process scored
his 1,000th career point on a tip-in at the 18:14 mark. The
Pioneers came alive and used a 11-0 run to cut the lead to one
point at 47-46 with 5:56 remaining on a three-point play by
junior guard Clifford Charles (Newark, NJ).
After PC’s freshman
forward Michael
Drum
(Rural Hall, N.C.) scored to put PC ahead 49-46,
Tusculum’s Jones hit his fifth three-pointer of the ball
game to tie the game at 49-49 with 5:17 remaining. PC went on
a 6-0 run including four points by senior guard Chuck
Rayford
(Greenville, S.C.) to pull ahead 55-49 at the 2:59 mark.
The Blue Hose went six-for-six at the line down the stretch
including four more by Rayford to seal the victory.
The Blue Hose were led by
Rayford’s 15 points and seven rebounds while Isom and Drum
added 11 points apiece. The Pioneers were led by Jones’
game-high 19 points on five-of-seven shooting from three-point
range.
Presbyterian improves to 24-7 on the season while Tusculum ends the season at 16-12. The Blue Hose advance to the Food Lion/SAC Tournament semifinals against the winner of top-seed Carson-Newman College/#8 Newberry College game on Saturday, March 8 at 4:00 pm at the Catawba Valley Community Center in Hickory, N.C.