Saturday, December 2nd, 2006

Men's Basketball Team Wins Roger Taylor Invitational With 78-57 Victory Over Host NC Wesleyan

The Piedmont College men's basketball team used a 19-1 run early in the second half en route to posting a 78-57 victory over host NC Wesleyan College in the championship game of the 2006 Roger Taylor Invitational in Rocky Mount, NC. The Lions led the entire game and held a 30-point (74-44) lead with just over five minutes remaining.

Piedmont's Jake Baldwin was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring a game-high 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The junior forward followed up a tournament record and career-best 42-point outing in the seminfinal. The double-double was Baldwin's fourth of the season.

Jake Green and Mike Adams joined Baldwin on the All-Tournament team. In the championship, Green tallied 10 points, six rebounds, eight assists, and four steals. Adams added 10 points and four rebounds.

Piedmont dominated the game with solid rebounding and team defense. The Lions outrebounded NC Wesleyan 49-39 and held the Bishop's leading scorer Lenny Hall (21 ppg) to just seven points.

After a dismal shooting performance in the first half in which the Lions led 34-30 after netting just one of 13 three-point attempts (8%), Piedmont scored on 53% of its chances after intermission including 7-15 from three.

Piedmont returns to action on Wednesday, December 6th when the Lions travel to Atlanta, GA to take on Oglethorpe University with tip-off set for 7:00.