Box Score Fayetteville, NC - The Piedmont College men's basketball team had chances late, but went cold from the field and the line to fall in a thrilling 65-63 decision that went to the hosting Monarchs of Methodist University who handed PC a second straight loss in conference.  With a three-point lead and just 1:15 remaining, Piedmont looked to have taken control of the game, but the Lions were unable to connect on their final four offensive possessions and watched a late surge from the home team take away their chance of a road win.

In a fairly even overall contest, both teams traded shots through the beginning of the first half as Methodist would hold a 12-9 lead after a Keith Corbett dunk with 14:17 on the clock.  The Monarchs again held a three-point lead at 14-11 just three minutes later, but saw freshman Peyton Luken of Piedmont drill a three-point bucket that started a 10-0 run from the Lions capped by another downtown connection by a freshman, this time with Jordyn Propst doing the honors.

Piedmont tried to seize control late in the first half leading by as large as 12 with a 27-15 advantage and just under five minutes remaining in the first half.  However, the Monarchs scored nine of the final 14 points in the half to close to within eight at the break as Piedmont led 32-24 after 20 minutes.

With just over four minutes gone in the second half, Piedmont still led by ten at 41-31 but saw Methodist score 13 of the next 16 points to once again close the gap with a Monarch layup at the 11:01 mark tying the game at 44 all, the first of five second half ties in what was shaping up to be a dramatic finish in Fayetteville.

Tied at 50 with just over seven minutes to go, a pair of Methodist free throws gave the home team the two-point advantage.  On the ensuing in-bound, full court pressure by the Monarchs looked like it had been broken easily until a bad bounce off the foot forced a Piedmont turnover which led to a Methodist dunk on the other end as the home team started to feel the momentum swing in its favor. 

While the Monarchs continued to connect on crowd-pleasing shots from the field, the Lions quietly kept themselves in the game as Piedmont's next seven points came from the charity stripe as the Methodist lead dwindled to just two at 59-57 with 3:31 to play.  Moments after Methodist pushed the lead back up three on a free throw, freshman Brian Edwards tipped in his own miss to cut the lead down to just a single point at 60-59 despite the momentum favoring the Monarchs late.

It was then two Chris Meeks free throws with just less than two minutes to play that gave Piedmont its first lead since the 9:03 mark at 61-60.  After a stop on the defensive end, Meeks again forced the issue and was able to draw contact getting back to the line where he drained a pair of free throws to put his team up three with just over a minute to play, 63-60. 

Methodist's Bryan Hockaday then threatened to tie the game up with a three-point play the old fashion way, but was unable to connect at the line though his bucket with exactly 60 seconds remaining set up a dramatic final minute that would see each team have a chance to win it late.  On Piedmont's ensuing offensive possession after the Hockaday bucket, Methodist played perhaps its best defensive possession of the day holding the Lions to a desperation three-point attempt with the shot clock expiring. 

The Monarchs came away with the rebound and pushed the ball ahead for a fastbreak layup but were unable to connect as Hockaday stayed the Methodist hero picking up the offensive board and drawing the contact to get to the line for a chance to either tie or take the lead.  The senior big man knocked down both tries to put his Monarchs up 64-63 having scored the last four for the home team to put Methodist up one with 12 ticks left on the clock. 

Youngster Chase England was able to draw the foul on Piedmont's next possession to put himself at the line where he was four for seven on the day to that point, but England could not connect on either try though the Lions gave themselves another chance with Chris Meeks picking up the offensive rebound. 

After a Piedmont timeout, the Lions' youth appeared to have caught up with them in the final moments as a turnover led to another foul on Hockaday who went to the line hitting the first of two free throws.  Hockaday's second free throw rattled out giving PC one last chance, but the Lions were unable to get off a shot falling by two to the Monarchs, 65-63, when all was said and done.

Jessie Jenkins was PC's top rebounder on the afternoon with his dozen as he was the only Lion to tally double digit rebounds though freshman Brian Edwards came close to his first double-double with a nine rebound, 19-point performance.  Edwards shot better than 46% from the field leading the Lions in scoring for the second time in the last three games also topping the points column with his 22 in Piedmont's first-ever USA South win, a 90-75 decision over William Peace University a little over a week ago.

Edwards' nine boards ties for the third-highest mark this season by a Lion, a feat accomplished the last time out by another freshman in Chase England, the reigning USA South Rookie of the Week who was second in scoring today with 11 points on just under 43% shooting from the field.  The two freshmen of Edwards and England were followed in the scoring column by a pair of vets as Jenkins had seven points and Chris Meeks had six points, four of which came in the final two minutes of the game as his four straight free throws put Piedmont from down one to up three late.

The heartbreaking loss puts Piedmont to a 6-7 overall record and drops the Lions to 1-2 in USA South play.  Piedmont's two conference losses have come by a combined five points as the Lions fell by just three points at home to NC Wesleyan last weekend with a three-point chance that could have tied the game clanking off the rim at the buzzer.

PC will have to keep its memory short as they face a tough turnaround to face Greensboro College tomorrow afternoon on the road back home in the second of a two-game, conference weekend in Carolina.  Tip off in that contest is set for 3:00 pm at the home of the Pride.