Huntingdon men’s basketball loses to No. 23 Hampden-Sydney in Huntingdon Classic

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's basketball team hasn't taken the easy road to open the season.

In five days, the Hawks have hosted two nationally ranked opponents at Roland Arena, lost a two-point battle with 22nd-ranked Birmingham-Southern and a five-point battle with Concordia College.

On Saturday, the Hawks fell to 23rd-ranked Hampden-Sydney 98-71 in the Huntingdon Classic. The Hawks (0-3) are still looking for their first win, but head coach Mike Pugh is encouraged by what he has seen.

"The score doesn't indicate it, but we played much better today," Pugh said. "We played with a lot of effort and we showed much improvement. Hampden-Sydney is just a great team.

"After two close losses, which we felt we were capable of winning, I wanted to see how the kids would react today. I was pleased with the way we responded. We're not worried about our record right now, we're just trying to play competition that will make us better. We believe the tougher the schedule is early in the season, the better it will make us at the end of the season."

The Tigers (2-0) jumped out to a 14-4 lead and made their first nine field goals in Saturday's game. Hampden-Sydney built as much as a 19-point lead in the first half and maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the game. The Hawks were able to cut into the lead late in the first half and early in the second half, but Hampden-Sydney steadily pulled away in the final 12 minutes.

Ryan Petty and Jason Varney each scored 11 points to lead Huntingdon and D'Awvalo Turnipseed added 10 points. Jeremiah Thomas pulled down 12 rebounds and D'Angelo Roberson grabbed 11 rebounds.

Hampden-Sydney's Cam Anderson led all scorers with 18 points and Harrison George added 17 points. Ben Jessee followed with 14 points and Randall Ward and Khobi Williamson each finished with 11 points.

The Hawks return to action on Nov. 27 at Millsaps.

In the final game of the Huntingdon Classic, LaGrange College knocked off Concordia College 73-65.

Joey Anderkavich led LaGrange (2-1) with 20 points and three steals, Catrell Maclin added 13 points and Blake Craft finished with 11 points and five assists.

David Hampton led Concordia (2-4) with 15 points, John Nixon scored 13 points and Travis Rasco added 11 points and four steals.