Hawks knock off Millsaps in overtime for first win of the season
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's basketball team overcame a slow start on Sunday to edge Millsaps 78-72 in overtime.
Courtnee Edgar hit two 3-pointers in overtime and Jeremiah Thomas and Jason Varney each sank two free throws in the final eight seconds to seal the first win of the season for the Hawks (1-3). Edgar's second 3-pointer gave the Hawks a 74-72 lead with 1:24 to play in overtime. Thomas' free throws made it 76-72 before Varney stepped to the free-throw line with one second left to finish the game.
"It's always nice to get that first win," Huntingdon head coach Mike Pugh said. "We've played some good teams in our first few games. We battled in those first three games but we came up short.
"Our kids are working hard and today we continued to battle and we started playing better in the second half. We have a lot of areas we need to improve in, but a win like this should be something we can build on."
Thomas led the Hawks with 18 points and 12 rebounds and Austin Hill added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Ryan Petty had 13 points and five assists and Edgar finished with 11 points.
Huntingdon trailed most of the first half and Millsaps (2-2) took an 11-point lead in the first two minutes of the second half before the Hawks rallied.
Sparked by 3-pointers from Edgar, Jerrod Lee and DeAngelo Norris, the Hawks used a 14-2 run to take a 49-45 lead with 11:34 to play. Neither team could manage more than a four-point lead for the remainder of regulation. Hill's layup with 1:34 left in the second half gave the Hawks' a 66-64 lead, but the Majors tied the game 66-66 with two seconds left to force overtime.
"We've had a bad habit of digging a hole for ourselves in the first halves of games this year," Pugh said. "We did that again tonight with our poor shooting in the first half. Fortunately we turned it around in the second half. We've got some good shooters on this team, but we're still working on our consistency. We're working hard and we're going to get there."
Huntingdon returns to action at Roland Arena on Saturday, hosting LaGrange at 4 p.m.