Huntingdon men knock off N.C. Wesleyan for second conference win

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Senior Jason Varney sank two free throws with eight seconds left and North Carolina Wesleyan missed a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer as the Huntingdon men picked up a 95-92 conference win on Saturday.

Varney, who came off the bench, scored 22 points in the second half and hit 8-of-10 free throws in the final 80 seconds to help the Hawks (3-11, 2-3 USA South) edge the Battling Bishops (7-8, 2-2 USA South).

"I'm real proud of our guys. We've been playing hard and we've picked up two good wins in the past two games," Huntingdon head coach Mike Pugh said. "North Carolina Wesleyan made some big shots tonight, but so did our guys. This was a game where neither team was going to give up.

"Jason came through for us in the second half and made some huge free throws for us. And what can you say about Austin Hill. He just continues to play strong and play smart."

Hill, who leads the USA South with 21.4 points per game and is fifth in the conference with 7.9 rebounds per game, finished with 30 points and nine rebounds on Saturday. Hill hit five 3-pointers against N.C. Wesleyan and is 40-for-89 from 3-point range this season. His 3-point percentage of 44.9 also leads the USA South.

Jerome Davis added 13 points and five assists for the Hawks and Byron Dudley followed with 12 points and six rebounds.

Huntingdon struggled early in the game and fell behind by eight points in opening minutes of the first half. N.C. Wesleyan led 43-39 at the half and built a nine-point lead in the first two minutes of the second half.

But the Hawks answered and took their first lead of the second half with 13:22 to play. Neither team would lead by more than six points for the remainder of the game.

A Taylor Hughes 3-pointer gave the Hawks an 81-78 lead with five minutes to play. Huntingdon would not trail again. The Battling Bishops pulled to within a point twice in the final four minutes but the Hawks maintained their lead.

Huntingdon returns to Roland Arena on Sunday for a conference game with William Peace (5-10, 0-5 USA South). Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.