Contributed
(Feb. 7, 2010)

Junior Adrian Williams scored a season-high 19 points to lead four Huntingdon players in double figures, as the Huntingdon men’s basketball team defeated the top team in the Great South Athletic Conference Piedmont, 87-79, on Saturday at Roland Arena.

Piedmont entered the game with a 14-6 overall record and were undefeated in league play at 3-0, but ran into a hot-shooting Hawks’ (10-9, 2-2 GSAC) squad, which shot 50.8 percent from the floor for the game. The Lions also shot well from the field, hitting 47.5 percent of their shots, including 55 percent of their treys.

Junior Ephraim Hudson added 16 points for the Hawks in the victory, while senior Heath Miller and junior Deshaun Williams each chipped in 11 points. Miller led Huntingdon with eight rebounds, while fellow senior Reggie Sprouse finished with seven boards. Junior Jack Montgomery added six boards, including three offensive, off the bench.

Huntingdon jumped out the gates quickly, taking a 14-6 lead, following a lay-in by A. Williams with 15:09 left in the opening half.

However, the Lions (14-7, 3-1 GSAC) rallied back, taking a two-point lead, 23-21, after a trey by Michael Rubio with just over seven minutes remaining in the half. The two squads were tied as late as 3:16 left in the period, but Huntingdon took the lead for good by closing the half with an 11-3 run to close the half.

In the opening period, the Hawks held a commanding 28-10 advantage in the glass, led by Williams’ 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Huntingdon also turned eight turnovers into 15 points to take a 43-35 lead to the intermission.

Piedmont pulled to within one point early in the second half by opening the period with a 7-0 run. The Hawks put the game out of reach by scoring the next eight points, to take a 51-42 lead with 13:30 remaining.

Despite Piedmont cutting the deficit to three points, Huntingdon went on to lead by as many as 15 points with 6:15 left in the game on a jumper by Hudson.

Keying the Hawks down the stretch was their performance at the charity stripe, as they hit 10-of-12 free throws in the final two minutes. Huntingdon knocked down 23-of-30 shots from the line for the game, compared to just 12-of-23 for the Lions.

Deshaun Williams paced the Hawks with four assists, while Adrian Williams led the squad with three blocked shots. Sprouse added three steals.

Josh Haymore and Samuel Coppage led the Lions with a combined 41 points off the bench, including seven 3-pointers. Peter Ricks added 11 points, while J.C. Herebia, who entered the contest averaging 14.5 points and 5.6 rebounds, was limited to just seven points and two rebounds.

Huntingdon will return to action on Wednesday when it travels to Lookout Mountain, Ga., to take on Covenant. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Piedmont beats Lady Hawks

Senior Kayla Schuran and junior Ashton Salter each scored 11 points, but the Huntingdon women’s basketball team could not find an answer for the inside presence of Piedmont’s Sada Wheeler, who finished with 29 points, in a 55-40 victory for the Lady Lions on Saturday at Roland Arena.

Wheeler also added 14 rebounds to complete the double-double to help Piedmont improve to 10-11 overall and 9-2 in the Great South Athletic Conference. Huntingdon fell to 3-16 overall and 2-7 in league play.

Schuran added a team-high eight rebounds for the Lady Hawks, while senior Lori Bonds chipped in nine points and five rebounds.

For the game, Huntingdon converted just 27.1 percent of its shots, hitting 16-of-59 attempts from the field. Both teams struggled from outside, hitting a combined 2-of-24 3-point attempts.

Piedmont held a 44-35 advantage on the glass, while outscoring the Lady Hawks 46-16 in the paint.

Huntingdon will look to rebound on Tuesday, when it hosts Agnes Scott at 6 p.m.