Petty and Varney lead Huntingdon men to second win in three games

MARYVILLE, Tenn. – The Huntingdon men were in a battle from start to finish on Wednesday.

In a game where neither team ever led by more than seven points, the Hawks prevailed in the final minutes for a 76-73 win over Rust College in the James C. Campbell Memorial Classic at Maryville College.

"We were up most of the game, but we never could pull away," Huntingdon head coach Mike Pugh said. "We would get up by five or six points and then we'd hit a little dead spot. But our guys kept fighting and clawing and things went our way."

The win was the second of the season and the second in three games for Huntingdon (2-8). Ryan Petty and Jason Varney led Huntingdon, combining for 46 points and 17 rebounds. Petty finished with 25 points and six rebounds and Varney had 21 points and 11 rebounds.

The Hawks shot 50.8 percent from the field.

"Ryan shot the ball well and was pretty steady for us and so was Jason," Pugh said. "Both of them had some good rebounds for us as well. Our guys just played hard today. We kept playing and we kept working hard and good things happened for us."

In a game that saw eight lead changes, neither team could take control. Huntingdon took the lead for good on a Petty basket with 9:11 to play and built a six-point lead, its largest lead, with 8:08 left in the game.

But it took a Varney free throw with four seconds left to help secure the victory.

Markeith Wilson led Rust (5-9) with 28 points and Andrew Birks followed with 12 points.

The two teams play again on Saturday as Huntingdon travels to Rust. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.