Piedmont men's basketball halted in USA South tourney

DANVILLE, Va. -- In the first ever appearance by the Piedmont College men's basketball team in the USA South Conference tournament, the Lions were unable to advance from the quarterfinals in a 73-63 loss to LaGrange College. The Lions were led by Chase England with 13 points while Brian Edwards added 12.

LaGrange took an early lead banking a pair of shots before the Lions got on the board courtesy of a free throw from Edwards. He would later give Piedmont its first lead of the contest at 5-4 after a layup with 15:45 to go.

The Panthers answered with a 3-pointer to regain a 7-5 lead but Trae Gaines knotted it up at 7 with a jump shot. Daniel McCravy provided back-to-back points on a jumper and a layup to give PC an 11-7 lead which would prove to be their largest lead of the first half.

Mark Wagner tied the contest at 14 with 8:38 to play till the break on a 3-pointer, one of two shots from beyond the arc that fell for the Panthers. Piedmont was held silent from 3-point range in the first half as they were 0-for-7 from 3-point land.

LaGrange took the lead at 18-16 on a Nick Mitchell jumper, as the Lions held the USA South first-team All-Conference selection to only two points in the half. Mitchell averages 16.6 a contest, good for third best in the league.

The Panthers' Jordan Johnson slammed home a two-handed dunk to give LaGrange its largest lead of the half 26-20, but the Lions would cut it to a four point contest at the half, 28-24.

Though it was only a four point game at the break, it could have been a steeper slope for the Lions as they committed 10 turnovers to the Panthers 2 in the first frame.

The Lions scored six straight out of halftime to take the lead 30-28 after an Edwards layup. These two teams traded buckets for a short time, before Piedmont made an 8-0 run including five points from England.

Piedmont's lead was erased as Alex Bonner tied the game at 42 with 13:40 to go. The Panthers raced out to a six point lead, but Chris Meeks knotted the contest back up at 52 with just under 8:00 remaining.

In the final 8:30 of the game, Piedmont was outscored 21-13. After Meeks' layup tied the game, the Lions were held scoreless for over 3:30 of clock as they trailed by seven after Jessie Jenkins hit a free throw to end the Lions' drought.

Edwards completed an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it 61-56, just a five point game, but that was the closest the Lions could cut it in the final minutes of the contest. Inside the final minute, Winders made a push, knocking down two 3-pointers within 0:30 cutting the final score to a 10 point loss.

Mark Wagner ended the game as the leading scorer for the Panthers with his 16 points, while Mitchell added 12 after scoring just two points in the first half.

The Lions ended the game with 15 turnovers to the Panthers' 7, and Piedmont's struggles from behind the arc, shooting just 18.8 percent, proved costly. LaGrange was not much better shooting just two more 3-pointer's than the Lions, but shot 38.5 percent from 3-point land.

Piedmont ends the season at 13-13 overall and at an even .500, marking the first time the Lions have posted a .500 or better record since the 2009-10 season.