Huntingdon comes up short in battle with Maryville

MARYVILLE, Tenn. –The Huntingdon men's basketball team scored a season-high 88 points but fell to Maryville College 100-88 on Saturday.

Sophomore R.J. Jones scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Hawks (3-2, 1-1 USA South). Jones hit five 3-pointers and also had four assists. Senior Raheem Berry finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

Four other Hawks combined for 38 points. Jerrod Pettus had 10 points and four assists, Andre Ashley added 10 points and seven rebounds, Brandon McLean finished with nine points and two blocks and Scotty Chadwick had nine points.

Behind 12 points from Jones, Huntingdon jumped out to an 11-point lead, 16-5, in the first six minutes of the game. But Maryville (6-1, 1-0 USA South) rallied late in the first half. The Scots used a 13-2 run during a four-minute stretch to tie the game 33-33 with 4:56 left in the first half. Maryville led 45-42 at halftime.

Maryville led the entire second half, but the Hawks remained within six points until midway through the second half. The Hawks trailed 68-63 with 12:18 to play in the game before the Scots pulled ahead to a double-digit lead.

The Hawks cut Maryville's lead to nine points, 90-81, on a pair of Raheem Berry free throws with 2:38 left. But the Scots made a field goal and hit 8-of-8 free throws to close out the game. Maryville finished the game 26-for-31 at the free-throw line.

"We played hard and we were only down by three points at halftime," Huntingdon head coach Mike Pugh said. "Maryville took advantage of its opportunities at the free-throw line and that made a big difference. But I'm proud of our effort."

Huntingdon returns to action on Tuesday against Sewanee at Roland Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.