Box Score

Demorest, GA - A 20-point halftime deficit nearly doubled by the time the game's final buzzer sounded, as the Lions were left reeling in a 106-68 loss to Great South Athletic Conference rivals Maryville College.  The Scots were halfway to 100 at the half and outscored the Lions 56-38 the rest of the way en route to the 38-point win at Cave Arena Saturday afternoon.

The Scots' offense was nearly unstoppable, as it shot 62-percent in the first half including five shots from downtown and a perfect nine-for-nine at the free throw line.  Coming out of the break wasn't much better for the Piedmont defense, as Maryville raised the tempo even more, going for 56 second half points while shooting efficiently from the floor, the free throw line and beyond the arc.  The Scots have five players reach double figures, led by Milton Stanley's 24 and Wes Lambert's 20.  Maryville out-rebounded Piedmont 40-28 in the process.

Piedmont jumped out to an early 7-3 lead despite the Scots opening the game with a long-distance shot.  Freshman Jessie Jenkins got an inside layup before junior Tyler Arnold scored five straight points on a triple and a jumper.  However, the visitors went on a 15-2 run that included 11 unanswered points.  Piedmont's two points in that span came from free throws by Jenkins.  The offense was held without a bucket for over six minutes until Arnold tipped in a basket to pull the Lions within seven of the lead.  He continued to lead the comeback attempt, burying a deep three moments later, followed by a Kyle Lundberg jumper that made it a two-point game.  After Maryville's Lambert finally answered with another tri-fecta, Jenkins connected on a corner trey in response to keep it a one-possession deficit.

Lambert again hit an outside dagger, followed by yet another 3-pointer by Maryville as the Scots went back up by eight midway through the half.  Four total 3-pointers were made, three by Maryville, in just over a minute of action.  Piedmont didn't go down quietly though, as they fought back with a deuce from freshman Safari Smith, bridging the gap to just four.  The rivals went on to score the next nine points however to take a 13-point lead.  In the last 90 seconds before heading to the break, Maryville dropped in a few more insurance baskets to pad the lead to 20.  Stanley was the top performer with 11 points in the half, while Arnold led the Lions with 10.

The sophomore Lundberg and senior Josh Haymore bookended a 9-0 Piedmont run with 3-pointers, giving the Lions their last glimmer of hope.  The spark shrunk the deficit to 13, but again Maryville used the deep ball to pull back ahead.  After trading baskets for the next few minutes, the Scots' offense went on a tear, out-scoring the home team 18-2 in a key stretch that lasted over six minutes in which the Lions' only two points again were on shots at the line.  The 77-47 score with nine minutes left in the game gave Maryville all the padding it needed.

Piedmont went the final 5:28 without another field goal, gathering six free throws the rest of the way, while Maryville added 18 more in the remaining time, capped by its eighth 3-pointer of the game to finish off the Lions.  Jenkins led the men in the loss with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Arnold was good for 14 points.  Lundberg ended with eight points, and both Haymore and Smith chipped in with six apiece.  Piedmont moves to 4-13 overall and 0-2 in conference play, and travel to Covenant in a GSAC game Wednesday at 7:00 pm in hopes of getting back on track.