Box Score Marietta, OH - The Piedmont College men's basketball team held on for a five-point win in Head Coach Greg Neeley's debut on the sidelines as the leader of the Lions taking down Earlham College 66-61.  The game opened up the Shrine Tournament hosted by Marietta College in Ohio and also opened up the Neeley era at Piedmont as he got a double-double performance from former D3hoops South Region Rookie of the Year Jessie Jenkins to help seal the tightly-contested victory on the road.

Piedmont held the advantage after 20 minutes of play heading into the locker rooms at halftime leading by ten holding Earlham to just 22 points on 26% shooting in the first half.  However, Earlham would pick it up offensively though in the second half shooting better than 40% in the final 20 minutes to cut the margin down drastically in the closing minutes. 

The Lions did most of their damage in the first half down low outscoring Earlham 20-10 in the paint during the first half before the opposition slowed that gap in the second half posting just two points less that PC in the paint during that stretch.  Piedmont, who once opened up a lead as large as ten in the first half, pushed their advantage as high as a dozen with 6:29 remaining in the game.  However, from that point forward, Earlham would chip away at the lead cutting it down to just one after a Chris Holmes three-pointer with 3:10 remaining.

Holding on to their lead under duress, Piedmont answered Holmes' strike from downtown with a Safari Smith try from beyond the arc which connected to put PC back up by four at 63-59 with just over 2:00 remaining.  The Lions then came up with three stops in Earlham's next four possessions and saw Alton Honors II hit three free throws down the stretch to salt away the 66-61 decision.

Jenkins was tied for the team lead in the scoring department with his 11 points on four of 11 shooting from the field while his 13 boards included 12 on the defensive end and led the Lions in that category as well.  Also scoring 11 on the night was Alton Honors II as the junior hit five of his eight tries from the charity stripe including three clutch tries in the final two minutes of the game. 

Jenkins and Honors II were two of three Lions to post a pair of assists in the five-point victory which was the top mark for the team.  The two were joined by teammate Aaron Thrams on that list as the big man also collected three rebounds in the win. 

Piedmont outshot Earlham from the floor as the Lions connected on nearly 40% of their tries while the opposition shot 33.8% including a 26.7% mark from beyond the three-point arc.  Piedmont was better than 35% from downtown and also held the edge on the glass picking up 46 rebounds to Earlham's 42. 

The win moves PC to 1-0 on the young season picking up a victory in a season opener on the road for the first time in six tries during the NCAA era at Piedmont which began in 2003.  The result also puts the Lions in the Championship Game of the Shrine Tournament tomorrow night against the winner of Marietta and Ohio Christian.  That contest is scheduled for a 7:00 pm tip off on Saturday, November 16th.