Piedmont hands Panthers fourth straight loss
Jan. 20, 2010

LaGrange College's late second half rally came up short in a 84-76 loss to Piedmont in a GSAC game Wednesday at Mariotti Gym. The loss was the fourth straight for the Panthers, now 4-14 overall and 0-3 in the GSAC. The Lions improved to 10-6 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

Nic Whitfield led the Panthers with a game-high 24 points. He also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Joe Cromwell added 16 points and Marcus Vaughn 11. J.C. Herebia led the Lions with 20 points.

The Panthers only led once in the game. Cromwell's jumper put the Panthers up 4-3 in the early going. Piedmont took a seven point lead, 25-18, midway through the first half. The Panthers cut the deficit to two points on six different occasions. The Lions held on to a 46-42 lead at halftime.

Piedmont came out in the second half and built its largest lead. Herebia's basket gave the Lions a 68-53 lead with 9:53 remaining. The Panthers started chipping away at the Lions' lead over the next five minutes.

A three-point play by Vaughn, followed by a layup by Brandon Maddox drew the Panthers within five, 74-69, with 4:25 left. The Panthers got as close as five one more time when Whitfield's jumper made it 79-74 with a minute remaining.

The Panthers host Rust College on Saturday in a non-conference game. Game time is 4 p.m.