DEMOREST, Ga.--- The Asbury men's basketball team (4-9, 0-1 CCS) competed in their first-ever Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) matchup on Saturday afternoon, slipping at Piedmont University (8-4, 1-0 CCS) in Demorest, Ga., 87-68.
The Eagles were held to 28 points in the first half while Piedmont managed 40 first half points. AU answered offensively in the second half with 40 points, but the Lions scored 47 to take their opening CCS contest.
Asbury senior sport management major
Ben McNew led the Eagles with 17 points and grabbed a steal. Graduate forward
Clayton Winter was on triple-double watch with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. He also had a steal and went 5-10 from the floor.
Tyler Hall also scored in the double-digits for AU with 12 points, knocking down two threes alongside a steal, block, and two boards. Sophomore
Scott Shepherd had a strong nine rebounds for Asbury, while
Bryce Snellen collected five himself.
Piedmont committed 11 turnovers to Asbury's 10, but the Lions converted 22 points off turnovers compared to AU scoring 10 off turnovers. The Lions also won the fast break battle 17 points to eight from AU, and outscored Asbury 14-9 in second chance points.
AU led in points in the paint 36-30 over Piedmont and had 13 offensive rebounds while holding the Lions to 12 on the offensive glass. Piedmont tallied 33 points off their bench and held AU to 13 bench points.
The Lions went 21-24 from the free-throw line while AU made 14 of their 24 attempts at the stripe. Piedmont also was one off their most threes in a game this season, going 10-23 from distance at 44%.
The meeting was the first in school-history for Asbury and Piedmont men's basketball, while the new CCS League foes will meet again in Wilmore, Ky., on January 25th later this month.
Asbury will host CCS opponent Covenant College on Tuesday night, Jan. 7 in Wilmore, Ky., at the Luce Center at 7 pm live on Asbury Sports Digital Network.
*
Ben McNew | 17 PTS, REB, STL
*
Clayton Winter | 11 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST, STL, 5-10 FG
*
Tyler Hall | 12 PTS, 2 REB, 2-3 3PT, BLK, STL
*
Scott Shepherd | 9 REB, 5 PTS
*
Bryce Snellen | 5 REB, 2 PTS
*
Isaiah Stephan | 5 PTS (First-Career PTS)
* Make sure to follow us @asburyeagles on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
* Watch our all TeamAU home games live at Asbury Sports Digital Network
* Use the links attached to the team schedules to watch live or follow live stats
