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Demorest, GA -- For the first time in the last 19 meetings the Piedmont College men's basketball team defeated Great South Athletic Conference member Maryville College this afternoon in front of a capacity crowd at Cave Arena by the score of 80-78 in overtime. The Lions rallied from seven points down with four minutes to play and forced overtime where they outscored the opposition 16-14 in the five-minute frame.
The Lions came out firing with the game's first eight points in the first two and a half minutes. With the score 14-7 at the 13-minute mark the Scots went on a 12-4 spurt to take their first lead of the game. PC answered with a 7-0 run, five coming off the hand of
J.C. Herebia.
Just before intermission MC connected on a three-pointer to get within two with five seconds remaining. Sophomore
Josh Haymore took the inbound pass and hit an electrifying three-pointer from a step inside the time line to increase the margin to 37-32 at the break.
After a quick basket from the home team to open the second period the Scots retook the lead with a 12-4 run including a pair of tri-fectas. After a pair of lead changes and a tie Maryville took the lead at the nine-minute mark and increased the margin to a half-high seven points with four minutes to go.
The Lions chipped away and knotted the score at 62-62 with exactly one minute remaining. After a jump shot fell for the Scots sophomore
Tracey Gardner drove to the basket and was fouled with three ticks left on the clock. The forward calmly knocked down the two shots sending the game into overtime.
The teams would trade equal points for the first three minutes before Gardner canned a three-pointer for the final lead of the game. After a potential tying three-pointer was missed senior
Sam Coppage buried a deep three for the six point margin. The guard would knock down four free-throws down the stretch and despite a last-second three pointer the Lions took the two-point victory.
For the game Herebia led four in double figures with 17 points while Coppage closely followed with 16.
Michael Rubio and
Mike Chatman added 10 points apiece while Gardner narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds, three on the offensive end.
Maryville entered the game riding a 20-game GSAC regular-season winning streak that spanned four seasons and was receiving votes in the D3Hoops.com national poll. PC had previously never beaten Maryville in the series which dates back to the 2000-01 season and included 19 games.
The Lions, now 13-6 overall and the last remaining undefeated GSAC team, will return to action again on Wednesday, February 3rd as they host Warren Wilson College at Cave Arena beginning at 7:00 as part of the Habersham County Chamber of Commerce Business Appreciation night and Black Out The Cave student promotion.