Demorest, GA – After winning three-straight with impressive second-half performances, the Piedmont College men’s basketball team had to survive a second-half comeback by the Monarchs of Methodist University to hold on for an 82-79 victory. The Lions have now won four straight, all inside Cave Arena, by an average of less than four points.
Chris Meeks was the star of the show for the Lions as he posted his second double-double of the year with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Sunday marked Meeks’ third start of the season but he has seen action in all but two games so far. Meeks currently leads the USA South in field goal percentage as he is hitting 57.4% of his shots.
The Lions began the game leading by as many as 8 in the first 5:00 of play. Midway through the first half both teams went scoreless for nearly 2:30 minutes before Landry Assinesi hit a jumper to spark a 12-3 run by the Lions.
Marquise Lanier hit the old-fashioned 3-point play with the bucket and the free throw to put Piedmont up by 19 with 3:42 to go in the first half. Lanier was coming off a stand-out performance in the Lions victory Friday against Greensboro after scoring 19 points in 21 minutes of play against the Pride.
The Lions were then outscored 13-2 heading into halftime cutting their lead to eight at the break and Methodist scored eight straight to open the second half erasing Piedmont’s lead and tying the game at 38. Chase England put the Lions back on top with a 3-pointer and Meeks followed that up with a layup to put Piedmont back on top by five.
The Monarchs made a run of their own and took their first and only lead of the game 44-43 at the 14:19 mark off a free throw by Tabias Hilliard, the leading scorer in the game, who had 23 for the Monarchs.
From that point on, these teams battled back-and-forth but Piedmont maintained the lead throughout, though it never increased to more than a 7-point game. In the final minutes of play it was all about the Lions at the line as Piedmont was 11-of-14 during the final four minutes of play with Trey Winders hitting a perfect 4-of-4 all within the final 20 seconds of play to help seal the victory.
Four players ended the game in double figures for the Lions including Meeks and England from the starting lineup while Trae Gaines and Lanier came off the bench to score 13 and 12 respectively. Lanier who was instrumental at the line against Greensboro again proved his worth from the charity stripe hitting 8-of-12.
With the win the Lions’ record moves to 8-6 overall and 3-1 in the USA South, currently the second-best league record behind Averett University who is 4-1. Piedmont is 6-1 to start the season at home which matches the program’s best start inside Cave Arena during the NCAA era.
Piedmont will return to the court on Friday on the road against Ferrum with tipoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The Panthers are currently last in the league with a 1-4 record in the USA South with their lone win coming in their last outing against Huntingdon College.
