Presbyterian men’s basketball considerably improved its seeding for the Big South Basketball Tournament by finishing off a season sweep – in its first and last conference games – of Charleston Southern.

Baseball won in extra innings over Saint Bonaventure, but women’s basketball dropped its game in North Charleston against the Buccaneers. Softball dropped two out of three games to Drexel.

On Senior Day at Templeton Center, the Blue Hose avoided the burden of a play-in by defeating the Buccaneers, 72-65, on Saturday afternoon in front of 444.

Two, Trevon Reddish-Rhone and Crosby James, played their final games in blue and garnet, and Reddish, a Carrollton, Ga., product, made the best of his finale. He hit all six of his shots and scored 16 points. Columbia’s James, injury-plagued recently, popped an important second-half triple and scored five.

“It was a very emotional win,” Reddish stated. “It was Senior Day for us, my last game at home, and there was a lot we were playing for.”

A day off at the Big South Tournament was a direct result. By avoiding a play-in, Presbyterian (14-17, 6-10 BSC) managed to get the sixth seed and a bye into Friday’s quarterfinals.

Junior guard Samage Teel scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds with three assists. Kobe Stewart scored 15 points.

 Presbyterian finished the game with 42 points in the paint to the Buccaneers’ 30

A’lahn Sumler put up 26 shots and scored 23 points for Charleston Southern (10-19, 6-10). He hit only 10/26 shots and 3/13 from three-point range. Taje Kelley, who was 6/8 from the floor, added 14. R.J. Johnson paired his 11 points with eight of the Bucs’ 13 assists.

Charleston Southern scored the first two points of the game, but PC answered with seven straight points behind the scoring of Reddish, Teel and Stewart. The Blue Hose built their lead to 11 (28-17) at the 8:02 mark and maintained that edge, 38-27, at halftime.

“It had to start with our defense, and we got off to a really good start,” stated PC head coach Quinton Ferrell. “Holding them to 27 points in the first half, and whenever we hold a team to the 20s, it’s usually a good thing.

“Another emphasis was playing fast off rebounds. … I thought those two things are what allowed us to build a lead.”

Stewart scored the first five points of the second half, giving the Blue Hose a 43-27 lead. Charleston Southern scored eight of the next nine points, cutting Presbyterian’s lead to 44-35 with 17:54 on the clock. Charleston got as close as four twice in the second half.

The Blue Hose are back in action in the quarterfinals of the Big South Conference Tournament on Friday, March 8 at High Point’s Qubein Center, versus third-seeded Gardner-Webb at 8 p.m.

Take a look at the stats here.

The reverse occurred in North Charleston, where the Buccaneers finished off their own sweep of the Presbyterian women with a 68-49 victory at CSU Fieldhouse.

“Today wasn’t a great performance by our team,” PC head coach Alaura Sharp state. “I thought CSU really played hard and with more edge than us. We need to regroup and get back to the team that we are. We have been playing really well and need to get that group together for next week.”

Charleston Southern (11-18, 8-8) got 21 points from Kennedi Jackson, 16 from Keshunti Nichols and 11 from Cahterine Alben. The Buccaneers won every quarter: 16-11, 10-5, 19-17 and 23-16. CSU shot .526 (30/57) from the field.

Predictably, given the nature of the loss, Presbyterian (17-14, 8-8) shot .339 (19/56). Mara Neira scored alone in double figures with 12 points. The Bucs owned the glass, piling up 42 rebounds to the Hose’ 20. Jackson and Madison Adamson each cleaned eight off the glass. Bryanna Brady, who led PC with six, hit only 2/10 shots en route to nine points.

It wasn’t enough to stay in it, but PC forced 23 CHS turnovers while committing 15.

The Buccaneers outscored the Blue Hose, 40-16 in the paint, 12-5 in second-chance points, 22-15 off fast breaks and 19-11 off the bench.

Guess what? The Blue Hose, seeded fifth, face the Buccaneers, fourth, again on Thursday in the tournament’s first round, with the tap scheduled for 2 p.m.

Take a look at the stats here.

It took 13 innings, but Presbyterian won the rubber game of a three-game baseball series, 5-4, at Elton Pollock Field on Saturday.

Left fielder Jay Wetherington, a senior from Savannah, Ga., went 4/6 at the plate and drove in Aaron Hobson, who had singled, in the bottom of the 13^th after both teams had played three extra innings scoreless.

Presbyterian (7-5) also got another splendid outing from center fielder Joel Dragoo, who provided the Blue Hose’ only extra-base hit with a double in the sixth.

Robbie Boykin (1-0), the last of seven PC pitchers, got the win. Fenix DiGiacomo, the starter, pitched six strong innings, allowing three hits, two runs and three walks while striking out seven.
Tristan Ciampa (0-2) took the loss. He was the third hurler to take the mound for Saint Bonaventure (3-6).

Designated hitter Ryan Ouzts staked PC to a 4-2 lead with a fifth-inning single, but the Bonnies tied the score with single runs in the seventh and ninth frames.

Adam Rankie and Kyle Caccamise each had two hits for Saint Bonaventure.

The 13-inning battle was the longest Presbyterian game since April 6, 2021, when PC defeated UNC Asheville in 14 innings.  
The Blue Hose welcome Western Michigan to Clinton for a game on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Take a look at the box here.

The Blue Hose ended a five-game softball losing skid with a 5-2 victory over Drexel after the Dragons won previously on Saturday afternoon by the same score, and on Sunday, 2-1.

Presbyterian (6-12) got two hits apiece in the twinbill from Kelby Goodrum, Kara Starnes, Maddi Wood and Mallory Fletcher.

Shifting between catcher and designated-player duties as a sophomore, Wood has now emerged as Presbyterian’s most efficient batter from a statistical standpoint, batting .321. An opening-inning double in Game 2 from the Clinton native has given her six extra-base hits this season.

The Blue Hose played a third game against Drexel (3-10) on Sunday, won by the Dragons to take the series.

Emma Yanes walked to drive in the lone PC run. Second baseman Starnes was the only player for either team with two hits, one of which was the game’s only extra-base hit, a double.

A grounder by Mia Garza drove in what proved to be the winning run in the third inning. The Philadelphia school outhit the Blue Hose, 5-4. Allison Hoppe (1-5) was the winning pitcher, while PC’s Kasey Wolfe (2-4) took the loss.

Wofford’s new softball team (8-5) visits Clinton on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

I could stand some assistance for the impending Asheville trip.

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