MARYVILLE, Tenn. — For the second straight season, the Piedmont College men's basketball team swept the Scots of Maryville College in the season series thanks to Wednesday night's victory on the road 79-71. The Lions held the Scots scoreless in the final five minutes of the game to close out the contest and seal the win.
In the early going, Piedmont held the lead stretching it all the way to 16-7 after a pair of back-to-back PEYTON LUKEN 3-pointers and a jumper by TRAE GAINES, marking Piedmont's largest lead of the game. The Scots closed in on the lead with a 16-1 run that gave them control 23-17 with 10:55 to go till the half.
Maryville took an eight point lead, their largest of the night, with 9:34 to play till the break at 27-19, but five straight points from Gaines put the Lions right back in it. Piedmont regained the lead on a Chase England tip-in at 35-34, but trailed 40-39 at the break.
To begin the second half, the Scots made a 9-2 run but again, a Peyton Luken 3-pointer kept the Lions close. Maryville maintained the lead until Kelly Assinesi made a layup with 12:50 remaining making the score 54-53.
Piedmont did not surrender the lead until there were just under seven minutes to play but again it was Assinesi who put Piedmont back on top, this time with a shot from beyond the arc. With 5:15 to play, Emanuelle Garcia hit a pair of free throws for Maryville making it 71 all, but from that point, Piedmont did not allow another point to be scored by the opposition.
Piedmont saw all but one scorer in the game enter into double figures as six of the seven scoring players for Piedmont posted 11 or more points.
Piedmont returns home for the final regular season contest of the year as they host LaGrange College with tipoff slated for 4 p.m.
