The Presbyterian Blue Hose men’s basketball team secured a narrow 71-70 victory over the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on Wednesday evening at the Templeton Center in Clinton, South Carolina. The win brings Presbyterian’s season record to 9-10 overall and 2-2 in Big South Conference play, while UNC Asheville drops to 8-11 overall and 2-3 in conference games.
Carl Parrish led the Blue Hose with a career-high 28 points, making all five of his three-point attempts. Jonah Pierce contributed a double-double, scoring 24 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Jaylen Peterson added 11 points and eight rebounds for Presbyterian.
Presbyterian shot efficiently from the field, finishing at 54 percent overall and hitting 68 percent of their shots in the first half.
In the first half, Parrish made four three-pointers as Presbyterian took an early lead. After falling behind briefly, the Blue Hose responded with a nine-point run to retake control and went into halftime ahead 40-34 after Iverson King’s tip-in was followed by a late three-pointer from UNC Asheville.
After halftime, Presbyterian extended its lead to ten points following baskets from Pierce. The Blue Hose maintained an advantage ranging between seven and thirteen points for most of the second half. In the final minutes, UNC Asheville closed the gap by scoring thirteen of the last fifteen points, but Presbyterian held on for the one-point win.
Parrish’s performance marked his third game this season with at least twenty points and his thirteenth double-digit scoring effort of the year. He scored twenty points in the first half alone on seven-of-eight shooting. Pierce recorded his ninth double-double of this season and twelfth of his career; he now has eleven games with double-digit rebounds this year. Peterson reached double figures in scoring for the eighth time this season.
Presbyterian will next play Gardner-Webb on Saturday, January 17 at 2 p.m.
