Demorest, GA – After trailing by 17 at the break, the Piedmont men’s basketball team used a 20-6 run out of halftime to cut into William Peace’s lead and boost the Lions to a 70-68 comeback victory. Saturday’s win is the second straight game in which the Lions have come from behind to win a close one after trailing by 11 against Sewanee in a 54-52 win Tuesday.
It was Peyton Luken’s night as the sophomore made his first start since December 21 against Hood College and ended the night 6-of-10 from 3-point range and accounted for 21 points. His 21 points are the second most he has scored this season behind his 22 at Sewanee in November.
Justin Vallejo again played beyond his years with his third double-double of his young career with 17 points and 12 rebounds. He was Piedmont’s leading scorer in its last two contests and is currently the leading rebounder in the USA South.
Once again Vallejo got off to a solid start scoring four of the Lions first five points of the game. The Lions jumped out to a 7-3 lead but the Pacers took their first lead of the night 9-7 after a 6-0 run. William Peace would lead by as many as 5 early in the first half but the Lions continued to keep pace.
The Lions trailed by one and looked to take the lead but a turnover in the paint led to a quick 3-pointer by the Pacers who looked to sink any momentum the Lions had. Luken answered with a 3-pointer of his own on the Lions next possession.
Chase England would reclaim the lead for the Lions at 21-20 with 7:54 till the half, but Piedmont would be outscored by William Peace 21-3 following that basket. The Pacers extended their lead to as many as 17 in the first half leading 41-24 at the break.
The Lions came out of the break with a new intensity in their game and ran away with a 20-6 run of their own as they put nine unanswered on the board in the first four minutes of play to cut the advantage to eight points. From there these teams would match one another nearly point-for-point until Luken drained another 3-pointer to cut the Pacers lead to 47-40.
After a turnover by William Peace, the Lions continued to chip away at the lead as Jessie Jenkins connected on back-to-back layups to make it 47-44 with 12:09 to play. Both Luken and Vallejo nailed deep 3-pointers to keep the game within reach but with under five minutes remaining the Lions trailed by 7.
Off a missed free throw, Luken again drained one from downtown making it a two point game with just over three minutes on the clock. Just over a minute later, Luken gave the Lions the lead on another 3-pointer to make it 65-64 with 2:32 to go, giving the Lions their first lead since 7:54 remained in the first half.
These teams went basket for basket with the lead changing 5 times in the final minutes. Brian Edwards laid it in with 1:15 to go to put Piedmont up 67-66, but the Pacers answered back 11 seconds later to regain the lead. Vallejo hit a jumper with 45 seconds left on the clock to put the Lions back on top and Luken was fouled with 11 seconds left to give him the chance to put the game away. He hit 1-of-2 and the defense held strong to seal the victory.
This marks the first time the Lions have won their home conference opener since 2010-11 when Piedmont was a member of the Great South Athletic Conference and defeated LaGrange. Piedmont is now 1-1 in the USA South this season and 6-6 overall having won their last two.
The Lions will be back in action next Friday inside Cave Arena as part of another doubleheader with the Lady Lions as they both take on Greensboro College. The men are scheduled for tipoff at 5:30 p.m. and the broadcast will be available on WCON Radio and the Mane Event Broadcasting Network.
