Huntingdon men down William Peace for third straight win

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's basketball team set the tone Sunday and knocked off William Peace 74-63 at Roland Arena.

The Hawks (4-11) built as much as a 27-point lead in the second half to win their third straight game and improve to 3-3 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

"The team is excited right now. We're playing hard, we're playing well and it feels good to have won three straight," Huntingdon head coach Mike Pugh said. "We've been playing hard all season, but the difference is now we're making better decisions on the court. We're getting the ball to the right people in the right places at the right time."

Huntingdon overcame a sluggish start and began to take control late in the first half. The Hawks closed the first half with a 13-2 run to carry a 40-30 lead into halftime.

During an 11-minute stretch, that began with 5:26 left in the first half, the Hawks outscored the Pacers 34-6 to take a 61-34 lead with 14:25 left in the game.

Huntingdon maintained at least a 17-point lead until the final three minutes of the game.

Senior Austin Hill reached 20 points for an eighth straight game and recorded his fourth double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Hill leads the USA South with 21.3 points per game and is fourth in the conference with 8.2 rebounds per game.

Byron Dudley added 14 points for the Hawks, Jason Varney followed with 13 points and four assists and Alex Layson finished with 10 points.

Huntingdon will take on LaGrange (11-7, 5-2 USA South) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Roland Arena.