Piedmont, coached by former Monarch assistant Lee Glenn, led by 14 points at halftime. That was in large part to a 17-4 run midway through the first half. David Adcock drained a 3-point basket to give the Lions a 31-17 lead, followed by three straight jump shots by Michael Adams to stretch the lead to 37-19 with 6:11 remaining.
The Lions stretched the lead to 19 points early in the second half before Methodist battled back into the game.
Spearheaded by the strong inside play of freshmen forward Travis McBryde, the Monarchs went on a 15-4 run to trim the Piedmont lead to five points. Dragan Radmanovic drained a 3-point basket to trim the Lion lead to 52-42 with 14:51 remaining. After McBryde drained two free throws and then scored on a tip-in, Eugene Grant’s jump shot cut the Piedmont lead to 54-49 at the 12:24 mark.
Methodist wasn’t through. Twice, the Monarchs cut the deficit to three points. McBryde scored the paint, followed by a tip-in by Antwin Shuford. That made the Lion lead 62-59 with eight minutes remaining.
Piedmont, however, stretched the lead back to 15 points on a 16-4 run over the next four minutes. Tyler Whitlock and Kyle Kemmerer both nailed 3-point baskets, followed by three straight baskets by Adams. That gave Piedmont a 78-63 lead with 4:30 remaining.
Grant and Shuford both scored 14 points for Methodist, while Shuford also recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds. McBryde scored 12 points, while Seth Thomas and Radmanovic each scored 10 points. Adams scored a game-high 23 points for Piedmont (7-4) on 10-for-16 shooting from the field, followed by Jake Green and Jake Baldwin each with 12 points.
Piedmont shot an impressive 78 percent (18-for-23) from the free throw line.
Methodist travels to Greensboro for its USA South Athletic Conference opener on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.