Huntingdon men rally late, advance to USA South semifinals

MARYVILLE, Tenn. – The Huntingdon men's basketball team scored the final seven points of the game and knocked off Methodist University 92-89 in the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.

Austin Hill hit a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left in the game to pull Huntingdon within a point, 89-88, before Byron Dudley and Jason Varney scored the final four points. Dudley's jumper with eight seconds to play gave Huntingdon its first lead since the 3:06 mark in the first half and Varney helped close out the game with two free throws with three seconds on the clock.

During the final 2:55 of the game, third-seeded Huntingdon (11-14) rallied from an 84-77 deficit by outscoring the sixth-seeded Monarchs 15-5. The win was the 10th in the last 13 games for the Hawks and avenged a 76-72 overtime loss to Methodist (10-16) on Jan. 5.

Huntingdon will play seventh-seeded Ferrum (11-15) in the tournament semifinals on Friday at 4 p.m. CST. Ferrum upset second-seeded Averett 77-71 in the quarterfinals.

"We're just glad to still be playing," Huntingdon head coach Mike Pugh said. "We didn't play that well today, but we hung around and gave ourselves a chance at the end of the game. Our guys keep making plays and we keep finding ways to win. We just need to come out in the semifinals and be focused from the start of the game."

Three players scored 20 or more points for Huntingdon. Hill led the Hawks with 21 points and 12 rebounds, Terry Moorer followed with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Varney added 20 points and four assists.

Jerome Davis finished with 12 points and a season-high eight assists and Dudley had nine points and seven rebounds.

"Terry was a big key for us today," Pugh said. "He had one of his best games of the season and has really stepped up for us the past the few games. Austin and Jason played well again and Jerome ran the offense like we needed him to. I'm proud of this team and I want us to keep going as far as we can."