Behind a career-high 28 points from Triston Wilson, the Presbyterian Blue Hose (14-14, Big South: 7-6) rallied from a 14-point first half deficit to beat the Longwood Lancers (14-15, Big South: 6-8), 72-65, at the Templeton Center on Thursday night.
Wilson's 28 points came off 11-for-15 shooting from the field and two-for-three shooting from beyond the three-point arc. He also dished out three assists, grabbed five rebounds, and recorded four steals. Carl Parrish scored 15 points. Jonah Pierce scored 13 points. Jaylen Peterson scored nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds. JD Bowden scored five points and dished out five assists off the bench.
After Longwood scored 37 points while shooting 61.5 percent from the field in the first half. In the second half, Presbyterian's defense held Longwood to 28 points on 47 percent shooting. Presbyterian's defense forced 19 Longwood turnovers, leading to 25 points off those turnovers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF – Pierce got the Blue Hose on the scoreboard with a free throw. At 16:51, the game was tied at five; Longwood scored six straight points to take the first half lead for good. Then, Presbyterian scored four straight points behind a dunk from Pierce and a pull-up jumper from Wilson to cut Longwood's lead to one point. Longwood scored, taking a three-point lead, Peterson answered with a layup to get the Blue Hose back within one point. Longwood went on a 6-0 scoring run to take a 19-12 lead with 9:16 on the clock. PC scored six straight points behind baskets from Wilson and Peterson and two free throws from Bowden to cut Longwood's advantage to 19-18 at the 7:56 mark. The Lancers outscored the Blue Hose 12-3 over the next four minutes, taking a 31-21 lead. With 31 seconds on the clock, Longwood's lead had ballooned to 14 points, 37-23. Presbyterian's Josh Pickett connected on a jumper just outside the lane, cutting Longwood's halftime lead to 37-25.
SECOND HALF – Wilson started the second half on fire, connecting on back-to-back threes, cutting Longwood's lead to 37-31. The Lancers scored five of the next seven points, pushing their lead to nine, 42-33. At the 15:16 mark, Longwood held a 44-35 lead. Over the next six minutes, Presbyterian went on a 16-3 run to take a 51-47 lead after two free throws from Wilson with 9:31 on the clock. Pierce, Parrish, and Bowden also scored during the run. Longwood would tie the score at 51. Then, Parrish took over, knocking down a pull-up jumper in the lane and a three from the baseline, putting PC in front for good. After two free throws from Wilson with 45 seconds on the clock, the Blue Hose had their largest lead, 70-63. The two teams exchanged two free throws to make the final score, 72-65.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
NEXT GAME
The Blue Hose make the short trip to Spartanburg, S.C., to play USC Upstate this Saturday, February 21, at 4:30 p.m.
Triston Wilson here.
