Presbyterian College’s men’s basketball team is set to host UNC Asheville on Wednesday, January 14, at the Templeton Center in Clinton, South Carolina. The game will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be available for viewing on ESPN+. Tickets can be purchased through BlueHoseTix.com, and live statistics are accessible via GoBlueHose.com.
Both teams enter the matchup with identical records of 8-10 overall. Presbyterian holds a 1-2 record in Big South Conference play after falling to Longwood, 77-70, in their most recent game. Jaylen Peterson led Presbyterian with 21 points in that contest, while Josh Pickett and Iverson King each contributed 12 points. Jonah Pierce recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Head coach Quinton Ferrell leads Presbyterian in his seventh season at the helm. “Quinton Ferrell is in his seventh season as the head coach of his alma mater, Presbyterian College. Ferrell, a former Blue Hose team captain and a 2007 PC graduate, is one of 51 coaches in the NCAA Division I ranks who are coaching their alma mater.”
Jonah Pierce has been a key player for the Blue Hose this season, averaging 15.1 points per game and leading both the team and conference in rebounding with an average of 9.1 boards per game. He also ranks twelfth nationally with eight double-doubles so far this year. Carl Parrish follows as the team’s second-leading scorer at 12.9 points per game and leads Presbyterian with 42 three-point field goals made.
Triston Wilson leads the team in assists with an average of 3.5 per game and has registered five or more assists in six games this season. On defense, Pierce, Peterson, and Chidi Chiakwelu each average around one blocked shot per contest; Pierce is fourth and Chiakwelu fifth among Big South players for blocks per game.
As a unit, Presbyterian shoots at a rate of 46 percent from the field while averaging nearly seventy points each outing. Ten different players have made at least one three-pointer during the campaign.
Presbyterian opened its Big South schedule with an 86-77 win over USC Upstate on January 3rd—marking its fourth consecutive league opener victory—and set program records for free throws made (31) and attempted (43) during that match-up; Triston Wilson set an individual school record by making seventeen free throws.
Defensively, Presbyterian ranks second in scoring defense within the conference by limiting opponents to just under seventy points per game and stands second for rebounding margin (+5.3), which places them seventy-first nationally.
The upcoming meeting marks the forty-third between Presbyterian and UNC Asheville; UNC Asheville currently leads the series thirty to twelve. Last season saw both teams win away games against each other.
UNC Asheville comes into Wednesday’s contest following victories over Longwood and Radford. Kameron Taylor leads their offense with an average of seventeen point two points per game—second-best in the Big South—while Justin Wright averages seventeen points as well (fourth in conference). Toyaz Solomon adds sixteen point six points along with seven point one rebounds per contest.
Wednesday’s event will feature promotional activities including a “Blackout” theme encouraging fans to wear black attire along with replica jersey giveaways while supplies last.
