Huntingdon men score 97 in win over LaGrange

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's basketball team picked up its fourth straight win with a 97-86 victory over LaGrange on Thursday night.

The 97 points are the most scored by the Hawks in a game since scoring 104 against Trinity College on Jan. 29, 2010. After reaching 90 points just once in the past three seasons, the Hawks (5-11, 4-3 USA South) have scored more than 90 points in three of the last four games.

With the loss, LaGrange drops to 11-8 overall and 5-3 in the USA South.

"This was a huge win for us," Huntingdon head coach Mike Pugh said. "Scoring 97 points on LaGrange is pretty good. The guys did the things we needed to do. It's kind of the same story as the past three wins, the guys played hard and executed.

"We've started to figure out how to play with each other. We're getting a little better and we're learning a little more each game."

Huntingdon began to take control of the game late in the first half. Trailing by a point with 7:39 left in the first half, the Hawks went on a 21-5 run and carried a 47-32 lead into halftime.

Huntingdon extended its lead to 21 points in the second half and led by at least eight points the entire second half.

Seniors Jason Varney and Austin Hill led the Hawks with 22 points apiece. This is the second time in three games Varney has scored a season-high 22 points. During that stretch he is averaging 19 points per game. He also had seven rebounds against LaGrange.

Hill, who has scored at least 20 points in nine straight games, continues to lead the USA South in scoring average with 21.4 points per game. Entering the game, Hill was ranked 25th in Division III in scoring per game.

Andre Ashley added 11 points and seven rebounds, Jerome Davis followed with 10 points, four assists and four steals and Byron Dudley had 10 points.

Huntingdon hosts Covenant on Saturday at 4 p.m.