The Point was too High for both Presbyterian College basketball teams on Saturday.

High Point defeated Quenton Ferrell’s men on Saturday night at Qubein Center after the Panthers took care of Alaura Sharp’s women at Templeton Center in the afternoon.

With 2:28 remaining, Jonah Pierce’s bucket gave Presbyterian (10-14, 1-7) a 62-60 lead over Big South men’s basketball leader High Point (19-4, 8-0). The game was still tied 10 seconds later.

The Panthers won, 78-68.

It wasn’t the first time it’s happened. PC’s Wednesday victory over Longwood was one of few times it hasn’t happened.

Marquis Barnett led the Blue Hose with 23 points and six rebounds. Pierce also gathered in six caroms, but no one else scored in double figures.

High Point broke away in the final five minutes of the first half when it outscored Presbyterian 14-4 to take a 34-24 lead at halftime.

But the Blue Hose weren’t done. Two Barnett free throws with 4:03 remaining tied the score at 54. Eighteen seconds later Abdoulaye Thiam’s three-pointer put High Point back ahead.

Another way of looking at it is that both teams scored 44 points in the second half, but that was a bit oversimplified.

For instance, the Panthers shot .611 from the field in the second half. PC hit 1/8 triples in the latter half while HPU was 3/5. HPU hit 33/40 free throws. Inside the arc, the Blue Hose shot .500 (21/42).

High Point’s Kezza Giffa scored 26 points, mainly a result of popping 22/24 free throws. Duke Miles scored 18 points. PC committed 30 fouls to HPU’s 22. Kaleb Scott, Barnett and Pierce fouled out.

“We did many things well, but we committed too many fouls,” head coach Quenton Ferrell stated. “I think we played one of our better games defensively. The guys executed our game plan very well. They gave us a chance to win.”

It was PC’s seventh setback in the last eight games. The Panthers have won 12 games in a row.

Over time, moral victories grow old and lose all meaning.

The Blue Hose host Gardner-Webb (11-12, 6-2) at Templeton Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Three of the next four games are at home.

Take a look at the stats here.

The PC women were pretty in pink as they raised breast-cancer awareness. They played well, though once again, not well enough.

Presbyterian (12-12, 3-6 Big South) succumbed to High Point (12-10, 7-2), 64-59 in a game that featured 11 lead changes.

“I thought we competed and played really hard,” stated Sharp. “We played hard enough to win the game and we played with a lot of spirit. Obviously disappointed we couldn’t get the win today, but we did a lot of things well and a lot of things that equal winning basketball.”

The Panthers used balanced scoring and only eight turnovers to keep the Blue Hose, who outrebounded HPU, 35-25, at bay. Nakiyah Terrell 14 and made six steals. Lauren Bevis added 13 and led the Panthers in rebounds with five. Anna Hager paired 10 points with three assists.

PC’s sixth-year center, 6-3 Bryanna Brady, scored the 1,000^th point of her career near the end with her fourth free throw of the final quarter. She scored 11 points.

Mara Neira otherwise led the Blue Hose, scoring 16 points with three assists and six rebounds. She was 5/9 from the field and 3/5 in triples. Natalie Herrin grouped 12 points with three assists. Tilda Sjokvist led in rebounding with seven.

Fifteen turnovers undermined PC’s three-point superiority. Collectively the Hose shot .375 from beyond the arc.

The Blue Hose led, 17-13, after a quarter and 44-43 after three, but HPU outscored them, 21-15, in the final quarter, dropping PC to its third straight loss and fifth in its last six games.

The Blue Hose are back on the road for a game against Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.

Take a look at the stats here.

Either the athletes in the Pioneer Football League are getting smarter, or the classes are getting easier.

Let’s assume the former.

The PFL has an Academic Honor Roll, of course.

A year after that list reached 700 recipients for the first time, 733 from the league’s 11 members made the roll, and Presbyterian College’s members increased from 46 to 57.

Formulated in 2001 as a way to recognize the PFL’s outstanding work in the classroom, the conference Honor Roll has featured over 10,000 student-athletes in its 23 years of existence.

In order to be represented on the list, a player must maintain a minimum 3.0 grade-point average during the semester while enrolled full-time in accordance with NCAA rules.

The PFL’s average of 66 student-athletes per school is another league record, boasting seven universities that eclipsed the 70-player threshold on the Academic Honor Roll.

Many of the more accomplished players on head coach Steve Englehart’s team – Ty Englehart, Alex Herriott, Jordan Irizarry, Dominic Kibby, Bradley Russ-Martin, Brooks Russ-Martin, Mack Mikko, Worth Warner and Tyler Wesley among them – earned academic recognition.

Davidson led all PFL members with 81 athletes recognized, breaking the mark of 80 set by Butler in 2015. Four other PFL member schools also saw a record number of student-athletes recognized on the academic honor roll: Marist (70), Morehead State (74), Presbyterian, and Valparaiso (65). In addition, Butler (72), Dayton (76), Drake (75) and St. Thomas (71) saw more than 70 student-athletes named to the honor roll.

The Blue Hose took four singles wins and the doubles point in a 5-2 home men’s tennis victory over Limestone.

Presbyterian’s Javier Matos defeated Limestone’s Andre Zamorano, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 1. Then, Presbyterian’s Mamalat topped Limestone’s Andres Cortes, 6-4, 6-0, at number five singles. At number four singles, Pedro Cardoso beat Limestone’s Bourdon, 6-1, 6-1. Presbyterian’s Denim Yadav defeated Limestone’s Louca Bertone, 6-3, 6-4, at number three singles for PC’s fifth point. Limestone won at numbers six and two singles.

PC (3-2) won at numbers two and three doubles behind Marco Folglieni-David Mamalot and Cardoso and Austin Skoog, respectively.

The Blue Hose play Queens at Templeton Tennis Courts on Sunday at noon.

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