WHEATON, Ill. - The Piedmont men's basketball team used a swarming defense and 22 points from Ryan Jolly to cruise past Wheaton, 79-66, on Friday night in Wheaton, Illinois.

In the opening night of the Lee Pfund Classic, the Lions jumped out to an early double digit and withstood an early second half rally from the Thunder to pull away again and earn a win in their first true road game of the season.

Jolly continued his outstanding start to the season, leading all scorers with 22 points and filling the stat sheet out with seven rebounds, five assists and five steals. Sophomore Fisher Darden scored a career high for the second straight game, pouring in 18 points on 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Newcomer Griffin Neville was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field with 13 points while Noah Reardon was the fourth Lion to reach double figures, scoring 12 points.

Overall, the Lions scored 24 points off 19 Wheaton turnovers while committing just 10 turnovers themselves.

Piedmont used stifling defense and a red-hot first half from Darden to jump out to a double digit lead in the first half. The Lions forced 10 first half turnovers from the Thunder, led by three steals from Jolly and three blocks from Joe Helenbrook.

Darden scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in the first half while Neville added nine points off the bench on 3-of-3 shooting.

The Lions led by 19 points at 32-13 with 5:40 remaining in the opening half. However, Wheaton was able to eke its way back into the contest with an 18-9 run to close the half.

The Thunder continued the momentum out of the break, cutting the Piedmont lead to 46-40 in the opening minutes. However, that was as close as the scoreline got the rest of the way, as the Lions responded with another burst to extend the lead to double digits.

Piedmont led by as many as 23 points with under four minutes to play and iced the game away to win by 13 in the end.

Up next, the Lions will take on Alma in the Lee Pfund Classic Championship game. Tipoff is scheduled for tomorrow at 8 p.m. (ET).

TURNING POINT:
- The Lions used a 25-10 run midway through the second half to put the game away.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- Jolly's incredible start to the season continued on Friday, as he scored a game-high 22 points and pulled in seven rebounds, while adding five assists and five steals.
- Darden has now scored 34 points over his past two games after adding 18 on Friday night.

NEWS AND NOTES:
- Jolly is now averaging 26.0 points per game, 6.3 assists per game, 6.0 rebounds per game and 4.0 steals per game through three games.