Box Score LaGrange, GA - The Piedmont College men's basketball team fell by 13 points on the road earlier today to USA South foe LaGrange College to start a two-game road trip through Georgia and into Alabama on the weekend.  All five of the Panthers' starters were in double figures as LC used a home court advantage to its advantage against a Lions team starting five freshmen for the sixth game in a row.

With the 4th place ranking in the USA South standings to their name, the Panthers looked the part on Saturday afternoon despite getting quite the battle from a young Lions basketball team.  Four Lions scored in double figures for first-year Head Coach Greg Neeley, and three of them were first-year players as a trio of freshman reached double digits in the scoring column with the lone veteran in that group being Chris Meeks who had himself an afternoon tallying his second double-double in the last two weeks.

Meeks scored the first points for PC on the afternoon when his layup broke a 6-0 run from LC to start the action.  However, that would be Piedmont's only field goal in the first 6:46 of the game as the Panthers raced out to a 16-3 lead in the early going.

Despite trailing by double digits early, Piedmont continued to battle scoring 11 of the next 13 points in the game to cut the home team lead down to just a four-point margin at 18-14 with 10:57 to go in the first.  The Panthers, however, continued to answer each Piedmont jab with another run as the home team went on a 9-2 run to once again open up a double-digit lead heading towards halftime.

Down by 11 with 25 seconds to go in the half, Piedmont's Chase England knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 41-32 cutting the lead back down to single digits as the Lions fought to stay with the high-flying Panthers.  A Chris Meeks layup with time expiring in the first put the Lions down seven heading to the locker room as the second half was still to come.

Up 45-40 after the first two minutes of the second half, LaGrange's Mark Wagner knocked down a key three pointer that put LC up 48-40.  However, Piedmont would have the answer as freshman Brian Edwards scored seven straight points including his own try from downtown that put Piedmont down by seven with just over 16 minutes remaining.

Edwards' three was the first of two-in-a-row by a freshman for Piedmont as youngster Chase England drilled a tri-fecta the next time down the court to cut the margin down to 54-48 as the Lions tried to get a key USA South road win.  LaGrange stayed in front despite Piedmont's best efforts as the Panthers would lead the entire game with PC putting the pressure on more than once to take that LC lead away.

However, the Lions were unable to overcome 23 turnovers on the day as LaGrange only gave away possessions nine times to create the difference in the contest.  The pivotal moment came with just over nine minutes remaining when Piedmont had the chance to cut into an 11-point lead LaGrange had built up.

On the next offensive trip down the floor for PC after the home team's Mark Wagner hit a free throw for that 11-point advantage, Panther Jordan Johnson would get two monstrous blocks back-to-back to spark the home crowd at Mariotti and give the Panthers all the energy they would need for the win.

LaGrange went on to claim the 96-83 victory at home sending PC to a 3-8 mark in conference play as the Lions continue to try and claim the final USA South postseason spot.  With three conference games left, the margin of error is becoming slimmer as they sit two games back of Greensboro in the win column as the Pride currently sits in 8th in the league standings.

The bright spot for Piedmont in the loss was the play of Chris Meeks who had 22 points and 12 rebounds to tally his second career double-double, both of which have come in the last two weeks.  Meeks is averaging better than 13 points per game over his last five times out and has pulled down 43 rebounds during that same stretch.

Meeks was eight of 14 on the day as well hitting on his only three-point try to lead the team in most offensive categories.  The remaining three in double figures were Peyton Luken with 13, Brian Edwards with a dozen, and Chase England with 18.

The Lions don't have long to rest as they must play at Huntingdon College tomorrow afternoon in yet another USA South showdown.  Sitting at 8-13 overall on the season, the Lions will tip off in Montgomery at 4:00 pm.