FERRUM, Va. — Leading by one in the final seconds, the Piedmont College men's basketball team saw Ferrum College's RJ Turner dash their hopes of a road win with a step-back three pointer from the corner that gave the Panthers a 65-63 win on Sunday afternoon.
The contest was close throughout featuring 11 lead changes with neither team leading by more than eight as Piedmont held a 31-23 advantage in the first half with just under seven minutes to play.
However, the home team clamped down going on a 10-0 run to end the half as Ferrum went from trailing by eight to leading by two in just a 6:43 span. The first half belonged to Piedmont's Chase England who led all scorers at the break with 10 shooting 4-of-6 from the field including a perfect 2-for-2 from downtown.
In the second half, Ferrum's Josh Grimard came out hot scoring 11 of the Panthers' first 13 points after the break, but Piedmont had an answer going on a 10-0 of its own to reclaim the lead midway through the 2nd.
A England 3-pointer with 6:28 left made it 60-52 Piedmont as the Lions tried to stretch the lead, but Ferrum climbed back again closing to within one until Grimard tallied a steal-and-score to put Ferrum up one with 2:31 to play. After a quick lay-in from Justin Vallejo made it a one-point lead for Piedmont on the next possession, both teams would quiet down offensively until the final four seconds.
After a rebound scattered away from several sprawled players on the floor with under 20 seconds to play, Ferrum's Logan Gant picked up the loose ball and sprinted the other way with RJ Turner finding himself just inside the arc and his Ferrum Panthers down one.
With a Lion all over him, Turner was forced to step back into the corner and launch a desperate three-point effort that connected and put Piedmont down two with no timeouts. The Lions' final effort would be a last-second shot after going the full length that Ferrum survived with the Panthers holding on for the 65-63 victory.
