Huntingdon men beat LaGrange to earn No. 3 seed in conference tournament

LaGRANGE, Ga. – Senior Jason Varney scored a career-high 36 points, including two free throws to seal the game, in the Huntingdon men's basketball team's 92-87 win over LaGrange on Sunday.

With the win, Huntingdon (10-14, 9-5 USA South) clinched the third seed in the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament. The Hawks will play Methodist (10-15, 7-7 USA South) in the first round on Thursday at noon.

Varney's 36 points are the most by a Hawk since Leon Frazier Jr. scored 37 against Pensacola Christian in January 2010 and 10 short of the school record of 46 set by Forrest Smith in 2000.

Varney also had five rebounds against LaGrange (15-10, 9-5 USA South) and was 16-of-20 from the free-throw line. Jerome Davis had 13 points and three steals and Austin Hill and Terry Moorer each scored 12 points. Moorer had eight rebounds and Hill had seven rebounds.

Huntingdon rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half and took the lead on a pair of Hill free throws with 10:31 to play. Huntingdon would not trail again, but the game was not decided until the final seconds.

Tied 81-81 with 1:05 left to play, Varney hit a layup and as a team the Hawks sank 9-of-10 free throws to hold off the Panthers. During the final 32 seconds, Varney hit 5-of-6 free throws and Taylor Hughes and Davis each hit two free throws.

Davis' two free throws gave the Hawks a 90-87 lead with 18 seconds to play and Varney sealed the victory with two free throws with less than a second on the clock.