The Piedmont College men's basketball team opened Great South Athletic Conference action this afternoon with an 84-80 loss to Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL. Despite a furious second half charge the Lions drop the four-point decision and move to 6-10 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

PC will return home on Wednesday, January 21st as they will play host to GSAC member LaGrange College at Cave Arena starting at 8:00.

The Hawks came out firing hitting the first seven points of the game before Piedmont responded with an 18-4 run as Sam Coppage posted five points and a pair of assists. With the home team clinging to a 35-33 lead with two minutes remaining HC went on a 7-2 run as Jeremy Pittman knocked down all seven points.

The Lions trailed 54-44 with 12 minutes to go but fought back with a 16-4 run highlighted by four tri-fectas, two coming from freshman JUSTIN RUSH. The lead would mark the final advantage of the game for PC, as the Hawks countered with a 7-0 run to regain control. The Lions cut the lead to one possesion with 25 seconds remaining but after a missed three-pointer and the home team hitting one of two from the line the four-point decision was sealed.

J.C. HEREBIA continued his impressive post play with a double double of 25 points and 10 rebounds. MICHAEL RUBIO notched his first double double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Rush and Coppage added 16 and 13 points respectively.

In a tightly contested game both teams tallied 39 rebounds and committed 16 turnovers, the Hawks were able to convert 19 second chance points and hit 12 tri-fectas. The Lions shot an impressive 27-56 (48%) from the floor and produced 19 points off the bench.