Huntingdon men lose at Rust College

HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. – The Huntingdon men's basketball team turned in its best scoring performance of the season, but fell to Rust College 88-86 on Saturday.

The Hawks (5-12) took the lead late in the first half and held it until the final seven minutes of the game. Huntingdon fell behind by six points in the final minutes, but almost rallied for the win.

A Jeremiah Thomas basket made it an 88-85 game before Austin Hill sank a free throw to make it 88-86. Hill intentionally missed the second free throw to try and set up a Huntingdon putback, but the Hawks couldn't get the final shot to fall at the buzzer.

"We didn't get the win, but I think that is the best we have played all year," Huntingdon head coach Mike Pugh said. "We led for much of the game and we had our chances to win. We missed the tip-in at the end, but I'm really proud of the way our guys played today."

Jason Varney and Ryan Petty each scored 17 points, Thomas added 16 points and Hill finished with 15 points to lead the Hawks. Hill pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and Petty and Thomas each had five rebounds. Jerrod Lee finished with seven assists.

Huntingdon returns to action on Jan. 28 at Roland Arena. The Hawks host AUM at 7 p.m.