Tipping off the regular season at the Tip-Off Classic hosted by Mount Saint Joseph, the Piedmont College men’s basketball schedule for 2016-17 features several road challenges early in the year, a schedule fitting for the veterans returning on Head Coach Greg Neeley’s roster. Neeley’s crew features six seniors and nine total upperclassmen to guide the Lions through the upcoming season.
The Lions begin the year with eight of the first 10 games coming on the road as the team will be battle tested by the start of the new year. Piedmont will open the schedule at the Tip-Off Classic taking on Hanover College in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 19 before a quick turnaround facing host team Mount Saint Joseph on November 20.
The matchup with the Panthers will be a unique one as former Piedmont College assistant coach Mike Floyd is an assistant with the Hanover program and helped recruit and develop the upperclassmen on the Piedmont roster. The Panthers finished the 2015-16 season 14-12 overall while going 12-6 in the Heartland College Athletic Conference.
Following the trip north, Piedmont will be in Sewanee, Tennessee to take on the Tigers of Sewanee on November 22 in what has become a solid matchup in the past few seasons. Piedmont holds a 6-4 record against the Tigers but has won five of the last six contests including the last meeting on December 17, 2015.
The 2016-17 home opener will come against cross-town rival Toccoa Falls College on December 1 inside Cave Arena as Piedmont looks to extend their 9-1 mark at home against the Screaming Eagles. PC will then host Emory University on December 3, a year after the Eagles went 20-8. The last meeting between these two inside Cave Arena saw Piedmont knock off #6 Emory 87-85 in thrilling fashion in 2014.
The Lions have a stretch of five road contests to finish off 2016 beginning with a trip to South Carolina to face Bob Jones University on December 9 then head to Berry College for a game against the Vikings on December 11. Last season, Piedmont picked up a 74-72 victory over Berry thanks to scoring seven points in 0:26 seconds in order to come from behind and win the nailbiter. The final shot was put back by CHRIS MEEKS who sealed the victory and caused chaos in Cave Arena.
USA South play begins against William Peace on the road on December 17 while the Lions will face Ferrum as well that weekend on December 18. The Lions won close contests over both opponents in 2015-16 with both coming at home last season. The final contest of the year comes against Oglethorpe in Atlanta on December 20 before the Lions break for Christmas and the new year.
2017 begins with a rematch against Sewanee in the second of two contests between them this season, this time on the home court on January 3. The USA South home opener is against Huntingdon College on January 6 with LaGrange also visiting Demorest that weekend playing inside Cave Arena the following day.
Piedmont will travel to Toccoa Falls on January 10 for one of just two road contests during the month of January before returning home for four straight contests inside Cave Arena. The home stretch will begin against N.C. Wesleyan on January 14 followed by Covenant College on January 18 before the final non-conference contest of the year against Berea on January 20.
Maryville College comes to Demorest on January 23 for the first of two meetings in just over a two week span as Piedmont will travel to Maryville on February 8. Piedmont takes on Averett at the end of January on the 28th before facing Huntingdon, LaGrange and Maryville all on the road.
The final two contests inside Cave Arena during the 2016-17 season come against Methodist on February 11 and Greensboro on February 12. The regular season finale comes against Covenant College on the road on February 18.
All roads lead to the USA South Championship Tournament taking place February 23-25 at the site of the regular season champion. The Lions were selected to finish fifth in the league a year ago but saw their season come to an end in the USA South Tournament Quarterfinals in a heartbreaker against Greensboro. The top eight teams in the league will make the tournament which is single elimination.
