Piedmont down the stretch scored the game’s final five points and left town with a 76-71 decision over Maryville here Saturday afternoon.
After the Scots tied the game 69-all on a Charlie Cochran free throw with 4:21 remaining, Piedmont on its next possession grabbed five offensive rebounds before Andrew Stimpson finally converted for a 71-69 edge with 3:21 to play.
Jose Rodriguez’s layup tied it for the Scots with 1:49 showing, but Piedmont’s Devin Dean grabbed his own missed shot three times before getting it to go with 1:08 left for a 73-71 Lion advantage.
Maryville the next time down the floor had its own second-chance opportunities for the tying bucket, but they wouldn’t fall and Dean then converted both ends of a 1-and-1 to push the lead to 75-71 with 30 seconds left.
Dean made one additional free throw with 11 seconds remaining before finally missing, but it was too late for the Scots. Maryville dropped to 8-8 overall and 2-2 in the CCS, while Piedmont improved to 8-7 and 2-1.
There were nine ties and 12 lead changes in the second half alone. For the game, there were 11 ties and 14 lead changes.
Garner Scores Game-High 18
Jackson Garner got hot in the second half and made four 3-pointers in seven attempts, scoring 12 of his game-high 18 points. Rodriguez and Kordell Kah grabbed 10 rebounds apiece for the Scots, while Myles Rasnick handed out eight assists.
For Piedmont, Dean scored 11 points and grabbed 13 boards (eight offensive). Noah Reardon was the Lion scorer leader with 14.
Maryville held Piedmont to 37-percent shooting from the floor, but the Lions were a season-best 12-of-22 from 3-point distance (6-of-11 in both halves). Those were Piedmont season-highs both for 3-pointers made and percentage (54.5).
Piedmont in the second half also made 8-of-9 free throws to Maryville’s 4-of-9. The Scots for the game were a season-worst 6-of-15 from the line.
Maryville is back in action Sunday at 4 p.m., hosting Huntingdon in the second game of a twin bill. The Hawks enter 1-15 overall and 0-4 in the CCS after losing 81-72 Saturday at Berea.
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