Box Score Demorest, GA – The comeback kids continued their magical stretch as the Piedmont College men's basketball team came from behind for the third straight game to win 84-76 against Greensboro College. Piedmont trailed by as many as 11 before reclaiming the lead with 6:46 to go and putting away the Pride.
The star of the show was freshman
Marquise Lanier who had a career best night knocking down a team-high 19 points with 10 coming from the charity stripe where he hit 66%. Lanier scored 19 in just 21 minutes of playing time and is one of two freshmen to see action in every game this season.
It was Peyton "Cool-Hand" Luken who got the Lions on the board first draining a 3-pointer, picking up where he left off a week ago. Luken was 5-of-9 from 3-point range in the Lions' last game against William Peace as part of Piedmont's 17 point comeback in the second half and nearly matched those numbers Friday going 5-of-7 from 3-point range with 17 points.
The Pride took the lead 7-5 on a 3-pointer of their own with 16:17 to play and held the lead throughout the first half, largely thanks to 15 first-half points by Greensboro's leading scorer Simeon Howard who ended the night with 26 points.
The Lions tied the game off a steal by
Chris Meeks who followed up on the fast break with the layup to tie the game at 30. However, at the half the Lions trailed by five 41-36.
Out of the break, momentum remained on the side of the Pride as they made a 6-0 run but time was slowly running out for the visitors. The Lions began to chip away at the lead little by little including
Brian Edwards making an old-fashioned three point play with a layup and the free throw.
The Lions again trailed by as many as 11 with 11:47 to play but Lanier started the Lions comeback draining his one and only 3-pointer of the night to cut the lead to 59-53. Just over a minute later,
Jessie Jenkins picked up a steal and tossed it ahead to
Trae Gaines who was fouled and sank both from the line to cut it to 59-57.
Luken continued to do what he does best as the sophomore would hit three 3-pointers in a row and gave the Lions the lead with 6:46 to go on the second of those three. That marked the Lions' first lead since 16:17 remained in the first half.
The Lions went on an 18-2 run during that stretch and led by as many as 12 with 2:30 to play. In the final 1:31 of the game, Lanier was fouled and went to the line four times in a final effort by the Pride to mount a comeback.
This is the third straight game the Lions have trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half and managed to mount a comeback. The Lions have now won three straight and moved their home record to 5-1, their best start at home since the 2004-05 season when they began the year 6-1.
The Lions will return to the court in less than 48 hours as they play host to Methodist University Sunday at 1 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the Lady Lions. Both home broadcasts will be available on WCON Radio and the Mane Event Broadcasting Network.
