Hawks fall at Birmingham-Southern

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's basketball team matched Birmingham-Southern in a high-scoring first half but fell behind in the second half and lost 96-85 on Thursday.

Huntingdon never led in the game, but shot better than 63 percent from the field in the first half and scored 54 points before halftime. At the half, Birmingham-Southern led 57-54.

Birmingham-Southern eased ahead to a 12-point lead, 80-68, in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but Huntingdon would not allow the Panthers to extend the lead. The Hawks used a 12-4 run to cut Birmingham-Southern's lead to four points with 4:36 remaining.

The Hawks trailed 88-84 with 1:32 to play, before the Panthers closed the game with two field goals and four free throws.

Brandon McLean led Huntingdon with 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Bryant Reid added 14 points and Kyante Pines and Isaiah King each scored 13 points. King also had a team-high five assists and Pines had five rebounds. R.J. Jones finished with eight points and John Jay Graves had seven points.

Records: Huntingdon (6-4); Birmingham-Southern (3-6)

Quick Facts: Huntingdon's 54 points in the first half were the most by the Hawks in an opening half during the NCAA era … Huntingdon and Birmingham-Southern combined to make 42-of-68 field goals in the first half … The Hawks were 21-for-33 (63.6%) from the field in the opening half and the Panthers were 21-for-35 (60%)

Coming Up: Huntingdon plays at Covenant on Jan. 6 at 3 p.m. (Central).