SEWANEE, Tenn. -- After trailing in the first half by as many as 10, the Piedmont College men's basketball team cruised to 79-62 victory on the road at Sewanee behind career best nights from sophomores Peyton Luken and former Gainesville High standout Chase England.<br />
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Luken and England both had a career-high 22 points. That tied for the most of any Lion this season as England entered the contest coming off a 22-point showcase at Toccoa Falls, giving him the lead on the team in points scored this season.<br />
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Luken shot 88% from the floor and an impressive 6-of-7 (85%) from behind the arc including going perfect in the first half with four 3-pointers on as many attempts. The lone double-double in the game belonged to freshman Justin Vallejo who contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds for the first double-double of his career in the Green and Gold.<br />
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The Tigers opened the game on a 10-0 run and looked to be putting away the Lions early on, but it was Luken who got the Lions on the board with his first 3-pointer of the contest. The Lions would cut into the lead but eventually trailed by 10 again with 10:14 remaining in the second half. At that point, Piedmont went on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to only four points.<br />
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Another Luken 3-pointer lit up the scoreboard at 5:34 to cut it to a one point game and after a jumper by the Tigers, Luken tied it up again on another from behind the arc to knot it up at 29 all. The Lions would then take their first lead of the night on a layup by Brian Edwards and led at the break 35-32.<br />
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In the second half, PC increased its lead to nine before the Tigers started chipping away again. Sewanee cut the lead to 2 with 11:38 remaining in the game, but the Lions rattled off eight unanswered to put the game out of reach. The Lions scored the final eight points in the contest to win by their largest margin in the game of 17 points.<br />
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This marks the second straight victory for the Lions who have been rolling and scored over 70 in each outing this season. This was the largest margin of victory this season for the men's basketball team.<br />
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The men will hit the court again in one week, playing host to Emory University for the 2014-2015 home opener on December 2 inside Cave Arena at 7:00 p.m.
