Huntingdon men’s basketball snaps four-game skid with win at Covenant

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – The Huntingdon men held Covenant to 18 points in the second half and pulled out a 58-51 win on Wednesday night.

The Hawks trailed 33-28 at the half but outscored Covenant 30-18 in the final 20 minutes.

"It wasn't pretty offensively, but our defensive play helped us win tonight," Huntingdon men's basketball coach Mike Pugh said. "We had 19 turnovers tonight and we couldn't make our shots. But we played well on defense. We battled hard and good things happened for us."

Neither team led by more than eight points in the game. Covenant built a five-point lead, its largest of the night, on multiple occasions in the first half.

Huntingdon (7-14, 3-3 Great South Athletic Conference) opened the second half with a 10-3 run to take its first lead of the second half. The Hawks built an eight-point lead, 51-43, on a pair of Kanden Blackmon free throws with 4:38 left in the game. But the Scots (6-16, 2-5) battled back and pulled within two points, 53-51, with 1:22 to play.

Huntingdon answered in the final minute with a Jeremiah Thomas layup, a pair of Ryan Petty free throws and an Austin Hill free throw to close out the win with a 5-0 run.

Thomas led the Hawks with 15 points and nine rebounds. Petty added 12 points, five rebounds, six steals and four assists and Jason Varney finished with 11 points. Austin Hill chipped in seven rebounds, eight points and two blocked shots.

Damien Chaney led Covenant with 12 points and Callum Sears added 11 points.

The Hawks return to action on Saturday at Roland Arena against Hiwassee. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.