MONTGOMERY, Al. --- The Huntingdon College men’s basketball team (8-10, 2-1 GSAC) held off a furious rally from Piedmont College (8-12, 1-2 GSAC) 83-72 late Saturday afternoon.
The Hawks led by as many as 19 in the first half, and the Lions cut the lead to within six points with twenty-seven seconds remaining in the game.
The Hawks were led by senior forward, Adrian Williams with 21 points 9 rebounds and 3 blocks, as he continues his tear on Great South opponents. In support were the other four starters who all scored in double digits. Senior Ephriam Hudson finished with 14 points (3-of-6 from 3pt) and 7 rebounds, junior D’Awvalo Turnipseed and seniorDeshaun Williams each added 13 points apiece, while senior forward James Daniels finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
Huntingdon jumped on the Lions with an 11 point lead capped off by a layup by Daniels with 17:26 remaining in the first half, as the Hawks hit the first four shots taken for the game. The Hawks would go up 38-19 at the 4:22 mark on another Daniels layup, their largest lead of the game, and would go into the locker room with a commanding 42-26 lead at the half.
A dunk by Daniels just fewer than three minutes to start the second half would extend Huntingdon’s lead to 48-31, their largest lead of the second half. However the Hawks lead would be cut to nine within the next six minutes as Piedmont would go on a 12-4 run. The Lions would then keep Huntingdon’s lead to single digits for the remaining three minutes. The Hawks would then go 13-for-17 from the free-throw line, all under two minutes remaining, to close out the game.
For the night, Huntingdon out-rebounded Piedmont by one, 44-43. The two teams were near identical from the arc, with Piedmont shooting 40 percent (11-of-27) and Huntingdon shooting 39 percent (9-of-23). The Hawks shot 42 percent (27-of-64) for the game and the Lions shot 38.8 percent (26-of-67).
The Hawks return to action next Saturday, February 5, as they travel to Maryville, Tennessee and try to even the series against conference rival, Maryville College. Tip-off is set for 4pm eastern.
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