Huntingdon men’s basketball tunes up in exhibition against ASU

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's basketball team faced a tough preseason challenge Wednesday night against Division I Alabama State University.

ASU won the exhibition game 90-73, but the Hawks remained within five points of the Hornets until the final seconds of the first half and never trailed by more than 15 until the final minutes of the game. ASU led 40-33 at the half and opened up an 82-70 game in the final three minutes of the second half.

"Overall, I was pleased with the effort we gave," Huntingdon head coach Mike Pugh said. "Our guys played with confidence. We still have a lot of work to do, but I liked what I saw out of our guys.

"The one big thing we have to improve on is free throws. We struggled with free throws last season and we're still struggling. It's something we've worked on, but we're still not where we need to be. We have to get better at the free-throw line."

Huntingdon hit 7-of-19 free throws on Wednesday. But otherwise, the Hawks turned in a solid performance. The Hawks shot a little better than 45 percent from the field and hit 8-of-18 3-pointers.

Junior Jason Varney and seniors Ryan Petty and Kanden Blackmon combined for 44 points. Varney scored 17 points, Petty followed with 14 points and Blackmon added 13 points. Petty also had five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Terry Moorer and Jerrod Lee each had six rebounds. The 6-foot-8 Moorer also had two blocks.

Huntingdon opens the season on Nov. 16 against Emory in the Birmingham-Southern Classic.