Friday, December 1st, 2006

Men's Basketball Team Holds Off Wesley In Overtime To Advance To Roger Taylor Invitational Championship Game

The Piedmont College men's basketball team held off a late charge from Wesley (DE) College an earned a 95-87 overtime victory to advance to the championship game of the Roger Taylor Invitational at NC Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, NC. The Lions will take on tournament host NC Wesleyan in Saturday's title game.

Piedmont's Jake Baldwin set a new tournament record with a career-high 42 points on 17-20 shooting from the floor.

The two teams fought to a 41-41 tie at the half before the Lions were able to forge a 14-point lead with 9:11 left in regulation. The Wolverines, however, put together a late run, and a Rashawn Johnson basket with 53 seconds left eventually sent the game into overtime.

The overtime period saw the Lions shoot 4-of-5 from the floor and 10-of-13 at the charity stripe to pull away for the 95-89 win. In addition to Baldwin’s 42, Mike Adams and Wesley Parker chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Jake Green dished out a game-high eight assists for the Lions, who shot a blistering 63 percent from the floor.

Piedmont (2-3 overall) will now face NC Wesleyan tomorrow at 3:00 in the championship game. NC Wesleyan downed 26th ranked York (NY) College in the other semifinal game.