Piedmont's Hot Start Pushes Lions Past Hawks

MONTGOMERY,Ala.- Huntingdon men's basketball (9-13 overall, 3-6 CCS) fell to the Piedmont Lions (12-10 overall, 3-6 CCS) at home on Friday night 83-75

How it happened

First half

• Piedmont got out to a quick lead, starting the game on a 12-1 run in the first 4minutes

• The Hawks began to battle back at the 15:06 mark with a triple from Max Gardner

• Gardner's triple sparked an 11-3 run from the Hawks, reducing the Lion's lead to 20-17

• A 5-0 Piedmont run extended the Lions lead back to 25-17 by the 7:00 minute mark

• After trading baskets, Huntingdon found life with an 8-0 scoring run, evening the score at 31 with two minutes remaining in the first half

• Even at 33 with a minute and a half until halftime, BJ Brown followed a layup from Piedmont with a free throw on the other end, taking the Hawks into halftime trailing 35-34

Second half

• Two free throws from BJ Brown to open the second half gave the Hawks a 37-36 lead, but a Piedmont jumper gave the lead back to the Lions 37-36 on the following possession, 38-37

• After trading baskets, Piedmont drilled a shot from deep to push their lead up to 42-38 at the 16:55 mark

• Piedmont regained a double digit lead, 50-40, at the 12:59 mark with a three pointer

• Trailing 59-48, the Hawks went on an offensive tear, outscoring the Lions 20-12 over the next 6 minutes to bring the deficit within 3, 71-68, at the 4:32 mark

• A 5-2 Piedmont run put the lead back to 6,76-70, with 2:31 remaining in the game

• In the final two minutes, Piedmont's hot hand on offense held off the Hawks just long enough to leave Montgomery with a 83-75 win.

Key Notes

• The Lions made 38% of their three point tries, while Huntingdon converted from deep at a 19% cliff

• 17 of Piedmont's points came from second chance opportunities, but Huntingdon still managed to secure 49 rebounds while the Lions got 46

Hawk Top Performers

• #34 Randall Davis- 14 points, 13 rebounds

• #4 BJ Brown- 20 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds

• #3 Nate Johns- 12 points, 10 rebounds

• #2 Max Gardner- 7 points, 7 rebounds

The Hawks look to bounce back tomorrow, February 10th, at home against Covenant for Senior Day. Tip off is set for 4:00 PM.