Box Score Demorest, GA - The Piedmont College basketball team mounted an incredible second half comeback in tonight's 95-89 loss to LaGrange College earlier this evening but were unable to complete the journey in regulation.  Down 19 points at halftime, PC clawed its way back in over the final 20 minutes but USA South 3rd place LaGrange scored 15 points in the bonus basketball to survive by six points on the road.

Wednesday night's first half had an eerily similar feel to Piedmont's last time out on the court in a 98-78 loss to Maryville on the road this weekend.  After staying tight with their opponent for the first 15 minutes of the opening period, turnovers and a lack of offense let a 24-22, two point lead for LaGrange with a little over seven before half balloon into a 44-25 lead at the break.

LC held Piedmont to just a single field goal over the final 7:30 of the first half with that lone bucket coming from scoring leader Brian Edwards as he connected on a layup with under 30 seconds to go before the intermission.  An Edwards free throw would account for the lone remaining point in that stretch though the freshman would use that to catapult on from there scoring 18 of his game-high 27 after the break.

However, after letting the Scots continue to stay up big in the second half of this past weekend's loss at Maryville, the young Lions did not let the same happen in tonight's second half as they quietly chipped away at a 19-point LaGrange halftime lead cutting it to 11 with 13 minutes to play on a tip in effort from Jessie Jenkins.

Thirty seconds later, PC's Safari Smith brought the Panthers' advantage to single digits for the first time since the 4:41 mark of the first half when his fastbreak layup went through to make it 42-51 with 12:30 to go.  Feeling the pressure, LaGrange continued to see the Lions climb back in the game as a Tanner Burnett three brought the Panther lead down to just two points with plenty of time remaining, 8:18 to go in the game.

A pair of Brian Edwards free throws gave the home team their first lead since the opening minutes of the first half just three minutes later as Cave Arena came alive with the effort.  From that point on in regulation, neither team would lead by more than three points as the Lions found themselves down 78-75 with just over a minute to go.

With the ball and game in his hand, freshman Peyton Luken hit the biggest shot of his young Lion career rising up and draining a long distance three from right in front of the Cave Crazies that tied the game at 78 and sent the noise in the building over the top.  After a Panther miss on the other end, Piedmont's Safari Smith was sent to the line for two with just 29 seconds to go as the guard knocked down both to put PC up 80-78 late.

However, LaGrange also had their chance at the charity stripe after a foul with ten seconds to go put the score level once more.  Each team would have a chance to win it in the last ten seconds with LC's final effort falling harmlessly to set up bonus basketball, an ending fitting of the comeback that PC put on in the second half coming back from 21 down in the period to draw even at 80-80 before the final buzzer.

In OT, it was more drama early as a three-point Panther lead just 1:20 into the extra set up another chance for Luken to be the hero as he hit another tri-fecta to tie things up at 84.  Luken would hit another jumper at the 2:35 mark to cut a Panther lead down to one point, but it was the visitors who owned the extra period despite the momentum gained by the home team in the second half.

A late Burnett three posted the final of 95-89 as the Panthers scored 11 of the next 13 points after the Luken three with 3:12 to go earning the six point win on the road in USA South play as the Lions fell by six points or less for the fourth time in league play with the defeat.

Youngster Brian Edwards continues to make his claim as the top freshman in all the USA South with his 27-point performance in the overtime decision coming up with several key buckets to answer a Panther score.  Edwards tallied his 27, second highest point total of his debut season with the Lions, on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor as he was 2-of-3 from three point land and connected on five of his seven tries from the charity stripe. 

Edwards' 14.9 points per game average is good enough to put him 8th amongst all the USA South in scoring as he is the only freshman in that elite eight.  The newcomer also added six boards to his totals for the night playing 34 minutes of the 45 in the contest as he leads the Lions in 2014 with his 26.6 minutes per game as a first-year player.

Three other Lions scored in double figures for PC including Chris Meeks with 16, Sarfari Smith with ten, and Peyton Luken with 11.  Meeks came up just two boards shy of his second straight double-double as he continues an upward trend posting 16 points in each of the last two games marking the second time this season he has scored double figures in back-to-back games.

Smith's ten came with six of those at the free throw line as he also dished out five assists on the night to lead his team in that column.  That's the veteran's best performance in that category since putting up a half dozen helpers in a road win over William Peace on January 10th.

Luken scored nine of his 11 from beyond the three-point line including his clutch rise-up-and-strike effort with 1:04 left in regulation that tied the game at 78-78.  That bucket came on the possession after LaGrange put themselves up by three on a jumper from Nick Mitchell. 

Piedmont falls to 7-11 now on the season dropping their conference record to 2-6 with the loss.  Of their six conference losses, four have come by six points or less as the Lions dropped a five point decision to Ferrum on January 24th and posted back-to-back such losses with a three-point heartbreak against North Carolina Wesleyan before falling by two against Methodist less than a week later.

The Lions must quickly regroup to keep their USA South postseason chances alive as they host another USA South foe on Saturday in Huntingdon College who has won five of their last six and boasts the league's top scorer in senior Austin Hill who is averaging better than 21 points per game.  The February 8th showdown is set for a 4:00 pm tip.