Box Score

Demorest, GA - Regulation wasn't long enough to determine who would win between visiting Berry College and Piedmont, who went on to win 98-94 in overtime.  The Lions rallied late to take the lead in dramatic fashion courtesy of a pair of Dylan Delaney 3-pointers in the final minutes, only to see the Vikings force overtime with a last-second trey.  Piedmont scored 18 points in the extra time to take its fourth win of the season and second over Berry in the last eight days. 

The freshman Delaney nailed back-to-back tri-fectas to knot the game at 72 with two minutes to go, but Berry's Nasser Almulla hit a triple of his own with five seconds left to send the game to overtime.  Piedmont trailed by nine at halftime and was forced to claw its way back into the game late.  Three Piedmont jumpers got them going to start the night, with the men taking a 6-0 lead before Berry tallied 10 unanswered points to take a lead they'd keep for quite awhile.

When the Lions finally found their groove again, the Vikings had gathered enough momentum to keep pace throughout the first half.  Delaney hit a downtown shot to pull within one, and freshman Chris Meeks hit an easy layup nearly midway through to bring it to one again.  Berry flexed its muscles by responding with three consecutive triples by three different players, stretching the lead to 10 for the first time in the game.  The visitors made good on another long-distance shot to go up 11, which was followed by a scoreless stretch by both teams for the next three minutes.  Six straight points for the Lions, including the last four by freshman Richarson Myrthil, bridged the gap to five with three minutes left to play in the opening half.  A bucket and two free throws in the final minute and a half gave Berry the nine-point lead going into the locker room.

The Vikings' lead was highlighted by a 50-percent shooting performance in the first 20 minutes, including four treys and nine free throws made.  Piedmont shot just 33-percent to start out, and was just one of seven from long distance while going to the line only twice, making three of four. 

The teams battled back and forth throughout the remainder of the game, but Berry appeared to take off following an Almulla three, putting it up 52-40.  Delaney brought the deficit back down to single-digits with the second of his four 3-pointers as Piedmont began to chip away slowly at the lead.  Over the next six minutes the Lions buckled down and shut the Vikings out from the field, despite the visiting team gathering 10 points from the charity stripe in that span.  Almulla hit a jumper to put the Vikings up seven with 5:41 to play in regulation, but Piedmont scored the next five points, capped by a clutch basket by Myrthil, who gathered three rebounds and put up two shots in the paint before getting his bucket to fall.  The tough battle in the paint brought the fans to their feet as the Lions trailed 68-66 with just over three minutes on the game clock.

Delaney then completed the comeback with two sensational downtown shots to give Piedmont a share of the lead for the first time since early in the first half. Sophomore Kyle Lundberg found a hole and went in for a deuce to tie it again at 74 with 1:23 to play, scripting out a dramatic ending.  After the Vikings converted one of two free throws, Myrthil went back to work, dropping two baskets in 22 seconds to give Piedmont a three-point lead with 27 seconds to go.  Delaney was fouled and hit both free throws to keep the lead at three with 13 seconds remaining, setting up Almulla's game-tying triple with under five seconds left.  Piedmont was pressured on the inbound pass and wasn't able to get off a last-second shot, sending the game to overtime.

Freshman Jessie Jenkins opened the extra period with a tri-fecta, as part of his 18 points.  Senior Josh Haymore, who had just three first half points, nailed a long-range shot moments later to put the Lions up four, then hit two freebies to make it a six-point cushion.  The Lions' final 12 points came at the line, with Haymore making seven of them to ice the game.  Delaney led the Lions with 19 points, with Jenkins following with 18 and seven rebounds.  Despite Haymore's slow start, he finished strong with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Myrthil and sophomore Tyler Arnold each added 12.  Lundberg also reached double figures with 10 points. 

The Lions move to 4-12 with the win and now dive into Great South Athletic Conference play, as they play host to Maryville Saturday at 4:00 pm.  Seven of the men's final nine games are against GSAC opponents, with two non-conference games set between Young Harris College and Warren Wilson College.