Led by guard Justin Miller’s steady 3-point shooting and career-high 21 points plus forward Taylor Weber’s strong fourth quarter, the visiting Mustangs downed Piedmont 53-45 on Friday night for their first victory of the season.

East, which had lost its first three games, improved to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the South Piedmont Conference. Piedmont’s Panthers dropped to 2-2 and 0-2.

“A conference win on the road is big any time, especially in a strong conference like ours,” said coach Mark Flynn of East. “It was kind of an ugly game, but we did the things we needed to do towards the end to win the ball game. I’m proud of the effort we gave tonight.”

Both teams shot under 38 percent on field goals and the free shooting was much worse until East came through down the stretch. Piedmont did not make a foul shot in the first half and was 4-for-15 early in the fourth quarter. East was only 2-for-15 at the line after missing its first try of the final quarter.

“We couldn’t hit our free throws, even though we did step up and hit a couple there late that we needed,” said Flynn.

When Weber made both his free throws to give East a 48-43 lead with 58 seconds to play, it was the first time all night a Mustang had made both tries and the second time for either team. East’s Adam Cornelius made two more in the closing seconds.

East was only 11-for-32 at the line all night, but an important 9-for-18 in the final period. Piedmont finished 7-for-19.

“We’re better shooters than that,” said Flynn. “I think we’ll come out of that. We’ll work on that in practice. It’s just a confidence thing.”

Miller, a 5-10 junior, had confidence with his long-range shooting and kept the Mustangs in the contest for three quarters. He had five 3s for the night and was 7-for-13 on field goals as he topped his previous career high of 20 in the season-opening loss to South Rowan.

“I don’t know how he kept getting so many open looks from the same spot,” said Flynn. “He’s a great shooter. If they’re going to leave him open, he’ll make them pay.”

Despite Miller’s effort, it was still 32-all starting the fourth quarter. It was still tied at 43 with 1:33 to play after a basket by the Panthers’ Dick Rushing.

East wrapped it up by scoring the next seven points on Miller’s 3-pointer at the 1:20 mark and four free throws by Weber.

Weber, a 6-4 junior, started the fourth quarter 0-for-6 on field goals and 0-for-3 on free throws, but he did it all in that final period and amazingly wound up with a double-double, 10 points and 12 rebounds. Four of his boards plus three steals came in the last period.

“Not only did Taylor step up offensively in the fourth quarter, he had a big quarter for us on the defensive end. He did a great job for us in the clutch,” said Flynn. “He’s been in a little bit of a slump, and I’m glad to see him come out of it like that.”

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NOTES: Center Cedric Gill just missed a double-double for East scoring nine points and grabbing nine rebounds. ... Scott Manshack paced the Panthers’ scoring with 13, while reserve Grant Helms had 11 rebounds. ... East was 18-for-48 (37.5 percent) on field goals, while the Panthers were 18-for-57 (31.6). ... Piedmont had a 41-34 rebound advantage. ... East had 16 turnovers, one less than the losers, but only one in the fourth quarter.

EASTROWAN (53) —M. Shepherd 7, Weber 10, Gill 9, Miller 21, Cornelius 4, Misenheimer, Rusher 2, Sides.

PIEDMONT (45) — Manshack 13, Simpson 2, Rushing 6, Adams 4, Baker 9, Helms 3, Black 8, Christian, Hunter.

East Rowan 14 10 8 21 — 53