Hawks can’t find an answer for hot-shooting Oglethorpe

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season with an 80-71 loss to Oglethorpe on Sunday. The loss snapped the Hawks' four-game winning streak at Roland Arena.

Huntingdon (6-4) led by seven points with 12 minutes to play in the game. But the Stormy Petrels (5-7), behind a strong second-half shooting performance, rallied with a 23-9 run during the next eight minutes to take a 70-63 lead.

Huntingdon only trailed by five points, 72-67 with 3:04 to play, but Oglethorpe closed out the game with a 3-pointer and five free throws.

Oglethorpe, which shot 47.4 percent from the field for the game, shot 51.9 percent in the second half and was 8-of-12 from 3-point range in the second half. The Stormy Petrels were 14-of-30 from 3-point range for the game.

"Oglethorpe's performance was the best we have seen from anyone this year. I don't know the last time I've seen a team shoot the ball like that, especially while being guarded," Huntingdon head coach Mike Pugh said. "We didn't help things by having a bad night shooting from everywhere -- from the field, from 3-point range and at the free-throw line. We haven't shot the ball well in the last few games, but we're going to keep working."

Huntingdon, which shot 40.5 percent from the field for the game, hit just 4-of-16 from 3-point range and 7-of-16 from the free-throw line.

Junior Andre Ashley and freshman Brandon McLean each recorded double-doubles for the Hawks. Ashley had a career-high 23 points and a season-high 13 rebounds to go with six assists, four blocks and three steals. McLean finished with a season-high 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Huntingdon returns to conference play on Saturday at Covenant at 3 p.m.