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Demorest, GA -- The Piedmont College men's basketball team kept things interesting for the nearly 1,000 fans that showed up for the Lions' showdown with Great South Athletic Conference member LaGrange College earlier this afternoon in the Cave.  Although the Panthers looked to be running away with the game in hand late in the second half, the home Lions chipped away at the GSAC foe's lead until breaking through late in the game to claim a 72-68 win.

From the start, LaGrange took an early lead on the opening field goal of the game and continued to hold the advantage throughout the entire first half.  Despite receiving eight first half points from guard Josh Haymore, the Lions found themselves trailing by 11 at the half with LaGrange up 39-28. 

After an average shooting performance in the first half, the Lions came out on fire in the second half connecting on over 63% of their shots from the field in the final 20 minutes.  The Panthers would see their lead begin to dwindle until a three-point play from junior Tracey Gardner gave PC its first lead of the day at 58-57 with just over six minutes remaining.

With precious time ticking away in the second half, LaGrange would use an 8-0 run to once again build a seven-point lead in an attempt to dash the hopes of the hometown team at the 4:10 mark.  However, the Lions once again chipped away at the visitor's advantage until a Josh Haymore three-pointer as the shot clock expired gave PC a two-point lead with under two minutes to play.

The two sides would trade free throws until LaGrange had the ball down three with 40 seconds remaining in the thrilling contest.  With the game on the line, the Lions would get the defensive stop they needed and add another free throw to hold on for the dramatic come-from-behind 72-68 win. 

Freshman guard Will Skaggs led PC with his 15 total points that included nine points he collected from the free throw line.  Currently leading the conference in assists per game, the youngster added five more assists to his season total while turning the ball over only twice in 36 minutes of action.

As one of four Lions in double figures, Tracey Gardner tacked on 13 points to his team's total while leading the squad in rebounding for the 15th time this season with nine boards on the day.  Junior Josh Haymore threw in a dozen points of his own connecting on three of his seven tries from beyond the three-point arc including that late trifecta that beat the shot clock. 

Newcomer Kevin Kubandi tallied 11 points connecting on over 50% of his shots from the field extending his personal three-game streak of scoring in double figures for PC.  A trio of Lions scored seven points in the four point conference victory for PC including senior Daniel Lampl, sophomore Michael Ross, and freshman Kyle Lundberg. 

The win improves Piedmont to 7-9 overall while the Lions open GSAC play at 1-0.  PC will try to keep it going when they take on another conference member as Covenant College rolls to town on Tuesday, January 18 for a 7:00 tip-off in Cave Arena.