Box Score
Demorest, GA - Piedmont couldn't hold on to a three-point halftime lead, as the visiting Ferrum College Panthers were lights out from the floor in the second half in defeating the Lions 80-72 Tuesday afternoon. The Lions lost at home for the first time this season in three contests, and move to 2-5 on the season. Ferrum has now won seven of the last nine against Piedmont going back to 2003.
Josh Haymore once again led the Lions offensive output, tallying 14 points, while freshman
Jessie Jenkins dropped in 11 points and 11 rebounds as part of a double-double.
Richarson Myrthil was close to one of his own, ending with nine points and seven boards. Piedmont's 3-point shooting accounted for over half of all the shots on the floor. Haymore was 3-for-13 from downtown, while junior
Michael Ross was the most effective scorer from outside, knocking down two of four. Ross,
Chris Meeks, and
Safari Smith each added eight points in the losing effort.
The game's first points came by way of the tri-fecta when Jenkins buried the long range shot to give Piedmont a 3-0 lead over two minutes into the game. However, the Lions scored only one more bucket in the next three-plus minutes. The Panthers found themselves up 10-5 until Smith hit a jumper to close the gap to three. With under six to play in the opening half and Piedmont down five, the men decided to lean on long distance shooting to get back in control. Haymore and freshman
Dylan Delaney hit back-to-back shots from beyond the arc, giving the Lions a 17-16 lead late in the half.
The lead switched a few more times until Ross connected on one of his two three's. Ferrum answered the call with a three of its own, knotting it back up at 23 apiece. However, 16 seconds later Ross found himself open again and hit his only other trey on the afternoon, giving the team another three-point padding.
The 30-27 halftime lead wouldn't be enough for Piedmont though as the Panthers' offense made adjustments in the locker room and came out with a hot hand in the second half. Ferrum shot just 29-percent from the floor in the first compared to an outstanding 59-percent in the final 20 minutes.
Initially it looked as if Piedmont would quietly put Ferrum away for good. Meeks and Haymore hit a three early on, and the men went on a 12-4 run to take a game-high nine-point lead. Four minutes came off the clock before Piedmont's next points came by way of Haymore's tri-fecta. At that point the Lions still had a somewhat comfortable five point lead. With 9:33 left in the game, Piedmont was in essence enjoying its final lead at 55-53.
Daryl Hart sunk a trey to get Ferrum back on top midway through the half. This paved the way for 14 unanswered points by the Panthers before the Lions hit a pair of freebies to end the run. Meeks' free throws made it a nine-point game, but almost immediately Ferrum stuck a dagger in the Piedmont momentum, hitting another outside shot to go up 12 with about six minutes left.
However, the Lions hung in long enough and fought back time and again to pull within single digits, and a comeback was looking feasible with three minutes to go, as
Tyler Arnold called his own number for a triple, followed by a few free throws by the Lions. The late rally by the men made it interesting as Ferrum's lead was shrunk to just three with 1:22 to go. Piedmont was unable to score again the rest of the way as the Panthers closed with a 5-0 run to seal the victory.
Five players scored in double-digits for the visiting Panthers, who improved to 4-4 on the campaign. Piedmont outrebounded its opponents, but committed 10 more turnovers in the loss. As a team the Lions were 9-for-31 from long distance. Jenkins came in averaging 29 points per home game and 8.5 rebounds. His 11 rebounds bested his season average, while he was held out with foul trouble for a key stretch in the second half. The Lions will look to bounce back against Christopher Newport University Friday at 1:00 pm at Cave Arena.
