Blue Hose Down the Commodores in Season Opener

Behind an 11-0 second half scoring run, a balanced offensive attack, and a strong defensive performance, the Presbyterian Blue Hose (1-0) defeated SEC foe the Vanderbilt Commodores (0-1), 68-62, on the road in the season-opening game.

Junior guard Jamahri Harvey scored a team-high 13 points. Senior guard Crosby James scored 11 points including shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the three-point arc. Junior forward Kaleb Scottscored 10 points including shooting 4-for-5 from the field. Junior forward Jonah Pierce scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds. Junior guard Samage Teel scored eight points off the bench.

Presbyterian shot 51 percent from the field for the game including shooting 62.5 percent in the second half. While the Blue Hose limited Vanderbilt to 32.8 percent shooting and 24.2 percent shooting from beyond the three-point arc.

The Blue Hose’s game-changing 11-0 scoring run came with the score tied at 38 with 11:27 left in the second half when James scored 11 unanswered points with three threes and a driving layup which pushed PC in front for good, 49-38, with 9:03 on the clock.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF – Scott would score the first two points of the season for PC with a jump shot in the lane at the 19:19 mark of the contest. With 18 minutes left in the half with PC leading 4-3, Vanderbilt scored 12 of the next 13 points taking a 15-5 lead with 11:49 on the clock. For the majority of the rest of the half, Vanderbilt would lead by 7-10 points. With just over two minutes on the clock, the Commodores had a 28-18 lead but two straight baskets from Scott and a driving layup from Teel cut Vanderbilt’s halftime lead to 28-24.

SECOND HALF – Presbyterian behind a layup from Marquis Barnett cut Vanderbilt’s lead to two points, 32-30, with two and a half minutes gone in the half. Vanderbilt converted on two free throws to push their lead back to four points. Three straight baskets from Presbyterian’s Kobe pushed the Blue Hose in front, 36-34, with 13:13 on the clock. The two teams would exchange baskets with a couple of ties over the next two minutes until PC took the lead for good after James scored 11 straight points giving the Blue Hose a 49-38 lead with nine minutes left in the game. PC enjoyed their largest lead of the game when Pierce scored inside giving the Blue Hose a 57-42 lead with six minutes on the clock. Presbyterian would maintain a double-figure lead for the most part until with 36 seconds on the clock Vanderbilt scored five straight points cutting PC’s lead to 64-59.  Vanderbilt would get within four points of the Blue Hose but timely free throw shooting from Harvey and Barnett closed out the road win for Presbyterian.

NOTES

• Presbyterian finished the game with a 28-16 advantage in bench points and a 36-18 advantage in points in the paint.
• Presbyterian shot 62.5 percent in the second half from the field (15-for-24).
• The Blue Hose defense held Vanderbilt to 24.2 percent shooting from beyond the three-point arc (8-for-33).
• Eight Presbyterian players scored at least five points.

NEXT GAME
The Blue Hose host CIU in their home opener at the Templeton Center this Thursday, November 9 at 7 p.m.