Huntingdon men fall to conference leader Maryville on last-second basket

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's basketball team rallied from a 19-point deficit in the final 13 minutes but came up short against Maryville 74-72 on Saturday.

With the win, Maryville (16-6, 11-0 USA South) remains first in the USA South Athletic Conference standings. For Huntingdon (7-13, 6-4 USA South), the loss is just the second in the past eight games. With four conference games remaining, the Hawks are in fourth in the USA South. The top eight teams will advance to the conference tournament.

On Saturday, Huntingdon set the tone for much of the first half. But the Scots pulled ahead to a double-digit lead in the first five minutes of the second half.

Trailing 58-39 with a little less than 13 minutes to play, the Hawks used a 33-14 run to rally and tie the game in the final seconds. Sparked by 11 points from Jerome Davis, six points from Jason Varney and six points from Byron Dudley, Huntingdon trailed 72-69 when Austin Hill sank a 3-pointer with 15 seconds to play.

But Maryville answered with a Christian Ford jumper with two seconds left to take the lead. The Hawks took one final shot at the buzzer, but the 3-point attempt was off the mark.

Davis, who hit three 3-pointers during the late run, finished 5-for-8 from 3-point range and led the Hawks with 19 points for the game. Hill added 12 points and 10 rebounds, Varney followed with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Dudley had 11 points.

Huntingdon returns to action at home on Sunday for Senior Day. The Hawks play Piedmont at 3 p.m.