NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Piedmont 55, Covenant 75
Records: Piedmont 5-6, 2-3 USA South; Covenant 7-3, 3-0 USA South
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – Early struggles left the Piedmont College men's basketball team trailing in the first half and the Covenant Scots utilized the lead to claim a 75-55 win Friday. The Scots took advantage of the Lions' shooting struggles in the first half to lead by 22 at the break and take the win by nearly the same margin.
ORRY CLEMENTS-OWENS got an early steal on the opening possession, but the Scots were the first ones on the board making three 3-pointers in their opening four baskets. Covenant led 13-5 just over five minutes into the contest but the Lions fought to make it a five point game on a
WILL RICHTER 3-pointer.
The Scots continued to pull away from that point extending the lead to as many as 15 with just over six to play till halftime, and ultimately led 44-22 at the break. The 22 points in the first half is the lowest total for the Lions in the opening half of a game during the 20-21 season.
RYAN JOLLY was held to just two points in the first half as Piedmont's starters had 15 points at the break. The Scots built a 31 point lead in the second half leading 58-27 and the lead was too much for the Lions to overcome.
Piedmont used an 11-2 run to make it a 23 point game but was unable to get it under 20 giving the Scots a 75-55 victory. Piedmont's
AARON PALMER made the only basket in the final 4:25 of the game with a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining.
TURNING POINT:
--Piedmont struggled in the first half shooting just 25% from field goal range while Covenant shot 57%.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
--
WILL RICHTER led the team with 12 points finding all his from 3-point range making four of Piedmont's 10 baskets from deep.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
--The Lions had 28 points off the bench to the Scots' 11.
UP NEXT:
--The Lions remain at Covenant for the second game of the weekend Saturday at 2 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW:
- To stay up to date on all information regarding Piedmont College Athletics, be sure to visit PiedmontLions.com and connect with the Green and Gold on social media. Follow the Lions on
Twitter: @PiedmontLions,
Instagram: @PiedmontLions, and
Facebook. To follow each Piedmont athletic program on social media, use the Social Media Directory at PiedmontLions.com or
click here.
