Box Score Post-Game Interview with Edwards and Coach Greg Neeley

Cleveland, GA - The Piedmont College men's basketball team trailed at halftime of tonight's showdown at Truett-McConnell College before raising the bar in the second 20 minutes en route to a 76-73 victory on the road.  Though tigers were absent, there was plenty of action with the Lions and Bears getting together in Cleveland, Georgia as PC was able to overcome a halftime deficit for the first time in 2013-14 to earn its second straight win of the debut campaign for Head Coach Greg Neeley.

In the first half, Piedmont looked a bit lethargic away from Cave Arena as the road-weary young Lions were playing off the Demorest campus for the third time in four games to start the 2013-14 season.  Afer lacking some energy in the opening 20 minutes to fall behind before the break, Coach Neeley saw a different team defensively in the second half helping his team to get back in the mix after staying within striking distance in the first half. 

Trailing by one at 39-38, Piedmont's Alton Honors II did the honors of handing PC its first lead of the second half with his fast break layup to put the visitors up one in the opening minutes of the second half. 

With just under ten to play in the second half, the two were deadlocked at 53 before freshman Peyton Luken connected on a three pointer from the left wing to put his Lions up three.  After Piedmont drew a charge on its defensive end to get the ball back, it was Chris Meeks hitting a three this time around from virtually the same spot as Luken's a few seconds earlier as Piedmont went up 59-53 courtesy of the back-to-back tri-fectas.

Another stop by the Lions' defense would let Jessie Jenkins get on the break spinning and laying in Piedmont's third straight bucket to give PC an eight point lead with 8:17 remaining, the largest Lion lead to that point in the second half.

Truett-McConnell picked up four straight points to cut the margin in half over the next two minutes at 61-57.  However, USA South Rookie of the Week Chase England stifled the run of the Bears finding classmate Brian Edwards on a heads-up back door cut for the easy lay in.  Moments later, England hit from behind the three-point land to put the Lions up nine at 66-57 as the youngster from Oakwood continues to impress in his debut season.

With several bears in foul trouble courtesy of the Piedmont offensive attack, the Lions did not slow down continuing to attack the basket down the stretch.  As the time ticked towards two minutes remaining, a two-point bucket from Truett cut Piedmont's lead down to three at 68-65 setting up a tight ending in the Bear Cave on the campus of the Cleveland-based school.

After defending Treutt's most dangerous offensive weapon throughout the night, it was then that youngster Brian Edwards calmly stepped up in a key moment to knock down the biggest shot so far in his young Lion career drilling a three-pointer from the left side of the key to push Piedmont back up by five at 71-65.

A pair of Jessie Jenkins free throws after a steal by the sophomore and a Truett foul would be the beginning of a foul and free throw game in the waning seconds.

The Bears would not give up though as a Piedmont foul and a Truett strike from downtown made the margin three points at 76-73 with 3.1 seconds to play after looking like the game was out of reach with 46 seconds to go and Jenkins at the line.

However, Piedmont was able to inbound the ball and get it out of trouble after a few chaotic seconds getting out of the Bear Cave with the victory after a solid second half effort keying the 76-73 win.

The road win hands PC its second such victory in three games away from Cave Arena on the year as the Lions move to 3-1 overall.  After some turkey and dressing on Thanksgiving Day, Piedmont will look to make it 4-1 when they host Berry College on Sunday, December 1st for a 4:00 pm tip off in the Cave. 

Coverage of the contest will be available via the Mane Event Broadcasting Network with a live video stream as well as online audio courtesy of WCON.  The game will not be broadcasted on WCON FM and AM radio affiliates due to broadcast scheduling conflicts with the Atlanta Falcons.