Box Score

Mount Berry, GA - Piedmont's seven game losing streak finally came to an end after the Lions' offense exploded with 13 3-pointers in the 91-65 win over Berry College on the road.  Six players scored in double digits for Piedmont, which held a 31-point halftime lead over the Vikings.

Freshman Jessie Jenkins scored seven of the first nine PC points, including his lone 3-pointer of the evening to push Piedmont up 9-5 early.  Junior Michael Ross then connected on back-to-back triples to give the Lions a 13-0 run that put them up by 10 five minutes into the game.  The Vikings would interrupt Piedmont's scoring sprees with baskets few and far between throughout the half, but sophomore Tyler Arnold notched two straight deuces as part of his 10 points in the contest.

With just under 12 minutes before the half, the Vikings pulled within nine points of the lead only to see the visitors respond with an eight-point swing when senior Josh Haymore drilled a pair of treys within 30 seconds of each other.  Piedmont led by 17 at that point, and the defense went to work, holding Berry to no field goals for six minutes as the half was winding down.  Arnold, Ross and Haymore all dialed long distance during that stretch, and suddenly the Lions doubled up the Vikings, leading 45-21 with four minutes still on the clock.

When Berry College finally hit another shot from the floor, they were down 21 with three minutes on the board, but again Piedmont kept the Vikings chasing, going on an 11-1 run to end the half with the Lions up 56-25.  Haymore already had 10 points going into the locker room, as the team connected on eight tri-fectas and on 70-percent of their total shots.  Berry was streaking in the other direction, making good on only 28-percent of its first-half tries.  It was particularly cold from outside the arc, as the Lions' perimeter defense held it to just 3-for-15 from downtown.

An 8-0 run in the early moments of the second half gave Berry new life and hope, down 25 but still plenty of time on the clock.  Coach Lee Glenn used a well-timed timeout to regroup, and it paid off perfectly.  The Lions swung momentum back in their favor, led by Ross' and freshman Dylan Delaney's 3-pointers that gave Piedmont its own 8-0 run in response.

The defense flexed again, holding Berry to no points in a four-minute window.  Delaney sunk two more daggers from outside to stretch the lead to 36 with just under six minutes remaining.  A 10-point shutout for the Vikings over a three minute span brought the game back to a 26-point edge for Piedmont.  Any miracle attempt of a comeback in the game's final three-plus minutes was thwarted by freshman Chris Meeks and sophomore Kevin Kubandi.  Meeks scored six of the last eight points for Piedmont, while Kubandi drained a trey to end the scoreless drought.

10 different Lions scored points in the third win of the season, led by Jenkins, who tallied his sixth double-double of his already sensational freshman campaign.  The team's leading scorer at north of 14 points per game bested his season average with a 15-point output to go with 11 boards.  Ross' unique stat line saw him go perfect on four shot attempts, all triples, amassing 12 points in the win.  Haymore also had 12 points on three tri-fectas, while Delaney had 11 on three downtown buckets as well.  Arnold and Meeks each had 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers.

The Lions improve to 3-10 just in time for Great South Athletic Conference play to begin.  Piedmont plays on the road at LaGrange College on Wednesday with tipoff slated for 8:00 pm.  Eight of the Lions' final 12 games are conference meetings.  Some repeats lie ahead as far as non-conference games go, with Berry College making a visit to Cave Arena Jan. 17 and a rematch with Toccoa Falls looming ahead as well.