NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Piedmont 75, Penn St.-Altoona 77
Records:  Piedmont, 5-4
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In early action in Florida, the Piedmont men's basketball team dropped a close call in a 77-75 loss to Penn State Altoona Sunday. The Lions led at the break by four but trailed by as many as 13 in the second half. 

Piedmont nearly pulled off the comeback holding Penn State Altoona scoreless from the field in the final five minutes of play, but Penn State Altoona converted all six free throw opportunities down the stretch. 

The Lions jumped out to a 12-5 lead early on in a slow scoring start with just 21 point scored in the opening 10:00 of play. That seven point lead was the largest of the game for the Lions as Penn State Altoona chipped away to get back in it and Piedmont held a 34-30 lead at the break. 

There was a flurry of scoring to start the second half including one of five 3-pointers from ANDREW STIMPSON to increase Piedmont's lead to six. Four of Stimpson's three-pointers came in the second half including two in the final eight seconds to help Piedmont come close. 

The Lions trailed by 10 with 5:06 to go but JUSTIN QUICK converted on a pair of free throws and JORDAN FOOTE added two layups to cut it to a four point deficit with three to play. Neither team would score again until the 30 second mark when Penn State Altoona began to convert free throws trying to cling to their lead. 

Foote made another layup to get it back to four, but the free throws continued to fall. Stimpson banked a three pointer continuing to cut into the deficit, but it was too late as the same result happened with eight seconds to go and again with two seconds remaining.  

The loss moves the Lions record to 5-4 as they look ahead to SUNY Brockport on Tuesday and an exhibition against Stetson University on Wednesday before a holiday break.
 
TURNING POINT:
--Penn St.-Altoona built a 13 point lead in the second half with 9:27 remaining in the game and the lead was too much to overcome for the Lions. 
 
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
--JORDAN FOOTE led all scorers with 18 points in the contest while it was JUSTIN QUICK who added a double double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. 
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
--ANDREW STIMPSON lit it up from beyond the arc banking five 3-pointers to account for his 15 points. 
 
UP NEXT:
--Piedmont remains in Florida to take on SUNY Brockport on Tuesday.
 
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