By Joshua J. Darling, Sports Information Director
LAGRANGE, Ga. – In a battle of runs it would be LaGrange (15-7, 7-2 CCS) that would pull off two key stretches late as they powered past Piedmont (11-11, 4-5 CCS) 74-61 in an NCAA Division III men's basketball game on Tuesday, February 7.
Sophomore forward Kyle Smith (Titusville, Fla.) led that attack for the Panthers as he finished with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with six boards, three assists and three steals. Senior forward Zac Hill (Senoia, Ga.) finished with 15 points on impeccable 7-of-9 shooting and added five caroms while senior guard Bershard Edwards (Lehigh Acres, Fla.) came away with 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals.
Freshman guard Jace Herrell (Charlotte, Tenn.) posted 10 points off the bench, half of that as part of a key run, and junior guard Gabe Cofield (LaGrange, Ga.) notched six points, six boards, four assists, four steals and three blocks.
In a back-and-forth affair the teams would battle through three ties and four lead changes over the first seven minutes, eventually deadlocking at 14-14. At that point LaGrange went on a 7-0 run in a span of 2:02 but the Lions would not go away as they notched their own 4-0 burst to cut it to 21-18 by the 8:52 mark.
From there the Panthers would wrest back control with a 14-6 run as Smith had seven points and Herrell five to extend the lead to 35-24 with 3:50 left in the half. Those would be their last points of the opening stanza, however, Piedmont could not manage to take full advantage as they came away with only five points during that time to cut the deficit to 35-29 by the break.
The teams would once again go toe-to-toe as they began the second half but the Lions would come through over the first 5:16 as they used a 12-6 stretch to knot it up at 41-41. A Bershard triple on the very next possession gave LaGrange back the lead and ignited an 18-4 run that took them from tied to up 59-45 with 9:14 to play.
They would then maintain a double-figure advantage over the next 4:36 until Piedmont got it to within seven, 62-55, with 4:08 to play. One last burst, this time a 10-3 stretch that made it 72-58 with just under two minutes to play, would put to rest any thoughts of a comeback as the Panthers closed out the 74-61 victory.
Ryan Jolly led PC with 16 points, nine boards, five steals and a pair of assists in 30 minutes of work while Aaron Palmer finished with 12 points and seven caroms and Noah Reardon rounded out the top performers with 10 points.
The Panthers return to action on Friday, February 10 when they host Berea. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. in historic Mariotti Gym.
