After trailing by as much as 16 points, the men’s basketball team pulled off an incredible comeback to defeat Birmingham-Southern 91-83 in overtime on Sunday night.
“I was out for a month due to my concussion, and man did it feel good to be out there with my boys again,” said junior guard Bailey Wiseman, who in his return scored 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc.
The Panthers led 37-24 at the half after dominating the first half. With 14:01 remaining in regulation, graduate student Ryan Jolly’s layup took Piedmont to within eight points, but that would be the closest Piedmont would get until three consecutive technical fouls were called with 7:35 to go.
In the final 2:56, the Lions’ defense kept the Panthers off the scoreboard, and the offense managed to score 10 points to tie. With 16 seconds left remaining, Wiseman secured the game- tying 3-pointer, making it his second 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation this season.
Piedmont scored just 24 points in the first half, but outscored the Panthers 49–36 in the second half. The Lions maintained their momentum and quickly opened up a five-point lead in overtime.
Wiseman sealed the game with a dunk after senior Noah Reardon made clutch free throws in the last 30 seconds of overtime to put the score at 89-83.
“This game definitely showed our drive that we have as a team. Being down with very little time left, we managed to figure out a way to increase our momentum if we wanted to win,” Wiseman said. “We knew what had to be done, it was just a matter of staying focused and persistent. Going into overtime, we made sure to stay motivated and focused, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Jolly finished the game with 26 points and senior guard Noah Reardon scored 17. Senior Joe Helenbrook and sophomore Fisher Darden dominated the boards, collecting 17 and 15 points, respectively.
Up next, the Lions will continue their five-game homestand taking on Millsaps Friday, Dec. 1 at 3 p.m.
Don • Jan 19, 2024 at 11:08 am
Great article.