Hawks remain unbeaten at home with win over Sewanee

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Junior Andre Ashley and senior Raheem Berry combined to score the final five points as the Huntingdon men's basketball team knocked off Sewanee 73-68 on Tuesday night.

Tied 68-68 with 42 seconds to play, Berry scored on a layup to put Huntingdon in front for good. Ashley sank a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left and hit 1-of-2 free throws with two seconds left to seal the win.

With the win, Huntingdon (4-2) improved to 3-0 at home and evened its season record with Sewanee (5-2). The Tigers won the first meeting of the season by 20 points, knocking off the Hawks 93-73 in the season opener on Nov. 13.

"We didn't play well tonight, but we found a way to win against a good team," Huntingdon assistant coach Tommy Bracknell said. "We've made a lot of progress and the guys have really come together since the first game of the season."

A tight game from the start, neither team led by more than four points until the final six minutes of the first half. Sewanee built its largest lead of the game, 39-32, with 31 seconds left in the first half and led 39-34 at halftime.

Sewanee maintained a slim lead for much of the second half, before the Hawks pulled ahead in the final eight minutes of the game. A 3-pointer by Jerrod Pettus put the Hawks up 57-56 with 7:29 to play.

Huntingdon would not trail again, but the Hawks would not put the game away until the final seconds. Huntingdon built a 10-point lead with 4:22 left and held off a late Sewanee rally before closing the game with a 5-0 run.

Ashley turned in his best performance of the season with season-highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals. The Montgomery native just missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds to go with four assists and four steals.

Berry added 15 points and R.J. Jones followed with 12 points. Brandon McLean finished with 10 points and Pettus had nine points, five rebounds and five assists.