By MONTE DUTTON

Presbyterian kept its men’s basketball debut close but couldn’t pull out an upset as Charlotte upended the Blue Hose at the 49ers’ Halton Arena on Monday night.
It was the nightcap of a women/men twinbill between PC and Charlotte.
Jonah Pierce scored a game-high 22 points while grabbing nine rebounds but the Presbyterian Blue Hose (0-1) lost to the Charlotte 49ers (1-0), 88-79, in a competitive game on the road on Monday night.

Pierce was a perfect 11-for-11 from the field. With his last basket with six seconds on the clock, Pierce scored his 1,000th point in his college career. Kory Mincy scored 17 points. Carl Parrish scored 12 points off the bench.
The Blue Hose finished the game with a 31-21 edge on the boards and a 34-8 advantage in bench points.
Charlotte scored nine straight points, taking a 43-31 lead with 58 ticks on the first-half clock. Charlotte led Presbyterian, 45-33, at the half.

Charlotte (1-0) maintained a double-figure lead for the first 10 minutes of the half. With 9:46 on the clock, Parrish connected on a three, cutting Charlotte’s lead to 65-58. Charlotte answered with a three. Two free throws from Mincy got the Blue Hose back within eight points, 68-60. Charlotte held a lead between 8-12 points for the next eight minutes.
With 29 seconds on the clock, Parrish connected on a three, cutting Charlotte’s lead to 84-77, but the Blue Hose were not able to get any closer.
Pierce tallied his 10th double-figure scoring game at PC.
Presbyterian welcomes Carolina Christian College to Templeton Center for its home opener on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Take a look at the stats here.

First-year women’s basketball coach Tiffany Sardin unveiled a mainly new team on Monday evening in Charlotte, N.C., where the 49ers defeated the Blue Hose, 77-63.
Tomekia Reed is also a first-year head coach at Charlotte.
The 49ers pulled ahead late in the first quarter to take a 25-18 lead. Turnovers plagued the Blue Hose. It got worse as the half went on, and Presbyterian (0-1) committed 21 miscues, and an 8-0 run put Charlotte (1-0) up,43-30, at halftime.

Laney Scoggins committed four fouls in the opening half for the Blue Hose. Teresa Mbemba and Aminata Tal each had three. Shelby Fiddler (9) and Paige Kindseth (8) combined for 17 of PC’s 30 points.
The 49ers dominated the third quarter, which ended with the Hose on the short end of a 58-41 score. Trailing, PC got three-point happy but not hot. The Blue Hose hit 3/7 in the first quarter and 2/5 in the fourth but were 0/9 in the interim.
Take a look at the stats here.

It’s a momentous occasion when the Red Devils of Clinton and Liberty play football on the latter’s home field Friday night.
It’s the first time the two have ever played. Liberty (5-3, 2-1 Region 1-2A) was 7-4 last year, but the record over the last eight seasons is 32-46. Clinton (6-2, 3-0) is 53-33.
Ex-Greenville assistant Brenden Marcell is in his first season at Liberty. Corey Fountain is 47-18 in six seasons at Clinton.

Most notable is that Clinton must win in order to claim the region championship. This is Clinton’s first season in Class 2A. Counting the three previous seasons in 3A, it has won 14 straight region games since falling to Chapman, 27-26, on Oct. 15, 2021.
Chesnee defeated Liberty, 22-16, in its first region game. Liberty has since defeated Landrum, 42-24, and Blacksburg, 45-22.
Clinton’s three region victories are over Chesnee (46-21), Landrum (56-22) and Blacksburg (61-14).
This is the fifth time in school history Clinton has played another team nicknamed Red Devils and the first since a 7-0 win over Great Falls in 1933.

Will Thompson played his best game to date as quarterback for Laurens in its 26-17 loss to Emerald, and the performance was enough to earn the senior recognition as Laurens County Touchdown Club Player of the Week.
Thompson completed 9/15 passes for 176 yards and a touchdown on a 50-yard hookup with Shawn Medlin. Thompson also rushed for a touchdown.
Head Coach Greg Porter stated, “Will has demonstrated leadership and toughness for the Raiders this season. Although the journey hasn’t been easy for him, he continues to give his best every day and every game. He continues to do whatever it takes to help this program lay a strong foundation to build on for next season.”
The next meeting is Nov. 21 at The Ridge in Laurens. Player of the Week awards are presented by Farm Bureau Insurance of Laurens County.

Next up is the annual Clemson-South Carolina celebration Chet Tucker, chief USC sideline reporter, and Don Munson, Voice of the Tigers, as the featured speakers.
Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15. All meetings are at noon with the food-service line opening at 11:45 a.m. Whiteford’s of Laurens is the caterer.
Fifth-ranked Presbyterian College took 16 wrestlers to the Princeton Open on Sunday afternoon and performed notably well.

Chiara Barbieri (103), Chloe Dearwester (110), Cassia Zammit (131), and May Cuyler (160) all won gold medals in the tournament, while three others picked up silver.
The Blue Hose compiled 49 victories, 23 by pins and 18 via technical fall.
Ten of PC’s 16 competitors finished with at least a bronze prize.
It was the second individual championship for Barbieri since arriving at PC last year, improving on her third at Princeton from 2023 by going 3-0.

Barbieri, Dearwester, Zammit and Cuyler won all 15 of their combined matches.
Alyssa Mahan (124), Ella Beam (207) and Paige Wehrmeister (138) all backed up their claims to the national top 10 by going 10-3 collectively with three runner-up showings.
For the third time this season, Presbyterian men’s soccer earned two Big South weekly awards
After scoring two goals, including the game-winner in Presbyterian’s 5-2 win over Winthrop, sophomore midfielder Sandro Rabarivony, of Auxerre, France, was named Big South Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career.

After dishing out three assists in the win over Winthrop, freshman midfielder Jonas Sundli-Hardig, of Bergen, Norway, captured Big South Freshman of the Week honors for the second time this season.
Presbyterian has a rematch with Winthrop on the road in the Big South Tournament quarterfinals this Wednesday at 6 p.m.
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