Tuesday, January 6, 2004

BLUE HOSE COME FROM BEHIND TO DEFEAT
 SOUTHERN WESLEYAN 67-55
PC’s Drum leads the comeback with a game-high 18 points

CENTRAL, S.C. — Presbyterian College shook off a sluggish start on the road to defeat the Warriors of Southern Wesleyan University 67-55 in non-conference men’s basketball action Tuesday night at the Tysinger Gymnasium.  

The first half was marked with sloppy play as both teams committed 11 turnovers apiece prior to intermission. Southern Wesleyan took control of the game on a 14-5 run midway through the half to take their biggest lead at 28-20 with 3:18 left on a three-pointer by Marshall Jenkins. The Blue Hose settled down and used a 9-0 run to close out the half with four points coming from sophomore forward Michael Drum (Rural Hall, N.C.) to take a 29-28 lead at intermission.

In the second half, PC used its patented defense to hold the Warriors without a field goal until the 9:11 mark, a drought of nearly 11 minutes. In the process the Blue Hose took a comfortable 43-32 lead. PC was able to keep their lead throughout the rest of the game with the largest coming at 67-53 on a pair of free throws by Drum at the :28 second mark.

For the game, PC struggled from the field, hitting only 18-of-46 attempts for 39.1%. The Blue Hose made up for the cold shooting from the field by hitting 27-of-33 free throws for 81.8%. The Warriors were equally cold from the field, hitting only 17-of-47 field goals for only 36.2%.

Drum led the Blue Hose with a game-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Sophomore center Johann Collins (Raleigh, N.C.) came off the bench to score 12 points and pull down four rebounds.

Southern Wesleyan was led by Jenkins’ 17 points while Rapley added 16 points for the Warriors.

Presbyterian improves to 9-4 on the season while Southern Wesleyan falls to 4-6 overall.