MONTGOMERY, Ala. --- Huntingdon College
sends its five senior basketball players out with a Great South
Athletic Conference championship in the final game of the season in
front of an excited crowd in Roland Arena on Saturday afternoon. The
Hawks outscored LaGrange College 14-9 in overtime for the 77-72
victory, after the Panthers sank a game-tying 3-pointer with nine
seconds left in regulation.Boxscore
After finishing regulation tied at
63-63, the Panthers took a two-point lead by scoring first in
overtime. The Hawks scored 11 straight points, 74-65, while holding
LaGrange scoreless until 20 seconds remaining in the extra period.
The Panthers were forced to foul for a comeback chance, but the
damage was done with Huntingdon claiming the title for the first time
since the 2005-06 season.
“I'm so proud of how hard our five
seniors played today and it's great sending these guys out with a
conference championship ring,” said head coach Mike Pugh. “The
Roland Rowdies (student section) gave us a big boost several times in
the game when we were struggling. I give credit to our fans for
helping energize us when we needed it today.”
Senior Adrian Williams received
tournament MVP honors after recording a game-high 22 points and 9
rebounds in the overtime championship victory. Williams also blocked
three Panthers' shots. Seniors Deshaun Williams and Ephriam Hudson
also posted double digits with 21 and 10 points, respectively. Senior
Jack Montgomery added 7 points and 7 rebounds in his final game.
The GSAC championship game started out
slow with nearly two minutes of action passed by before LaGrange
scored the first basket. In a close first period with over ten lead
changes, Huntingdon gained its largest margin after outscoring
LaGrange 7-1 in the final three minutes before intermission, 37-29.
Huntingdon held onto its first half
lead until LaGrange's Nic Whitfield made a pair of free throws with
5:34 left in regulation, giving the Panthers a 53-51 advantage. The
Hawks fell behind LaGrange late in the final period, but Hudson's
3-pointer with 29 seconds left on the clock gave Huntingdon the
one-point margin, 61-60. Hudson knocked down two free throws with 18
second left, 63-60, but the Panthers' Blake Craft's 3-pointer with
nine seconds tied the contest. Hudson missed a 3-pointer as time
expired sending the contest into overtime.
“Both teams played their hearts out
today in the championship game,” said head coach Mike Pugh on the
GSAC championship game between Huntingdon and LaGrange. “There were
some times we (Huntingdon) were reluctant to shoot the ball, but we
played hard and started making shots.”
For the game, the Panthers' out-shot
the Hawks 45.6 percent (26-of-57) to 37.7 percent (20-of-53) from the
field. Both teams finished even at 38 rebounds each in the overtime
thriller. Huntingdon capitalized on 32-of-46 attempts from the free
throw line, while LaGrange finished 15-for-22 from the charity
stripe.
“Winning the GSAC championship was
the first goal we talked about four months ago and it's great these
guys played well and accomplished it,” said Pugh. “This
championship helps us in recruiting and is a positive way to end our
season.”
LaGrange was led by Whitfield with 19
points followed by Blake Craft's 18 in the GSAC finals loss to
Huntingdon.
For more information on Huntingdon
athletics, visit www.HuntingdonHawks.com
or follow the Hawks on Facebook
and Twitter.
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