Contributed
(Feb. 26, 2010)

DECATUR, Ga. —– Huntingdon senior Heath Miller scored a career-high 21 points in what proved to be his final collegiate game, but the Hawks could not overcome 47 combined points from Maryville’s Greg Hernandez and Eryk Watson, as they fell to the Scots, 79-71, in the semifinals of the Great South Athletic Conference tournament, hosted by Agnes Scott College.

Miller converted 7-of-11 shots from the floor, including three 3-pointers, while also hitting all four of his free throw attempts to better his previous career high by one point, which he set against Atlanta Christian as a freshman. Miller also added seven rebounds, three of which were offensive, and two steals in the contest.

Joining Miller in double figures was junior Adrian Williams, who scored 17 points, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and blocked three shots. Junior Jack Montgomery and sophomore Mike Kilpatrick each added six points in the loss.

Huntingdon hung with the Scots (22-4) for much of the first half, even holding a five-point lead, 25-20, with 8:56 remaining in the half after a trey by Williams.

However, Maryville scored the next 12 points and pulled ahead by seven, 32-25, following a jumper by the GSAC Player of the Year Hernandez with 5:25 left before the half.

The Scots held just a four-point lead following a Huntingdon 3-point basket by Williams with under a minute remaining in the period, but Watson nailed a trey on the final possession of the half to provide the halftime margin of 45-38, in favor of Maryville.

For the period, the Scots converted 19-of-32 shots from the floor, good for 59.4 percent. However, the Hawks stay close thanks to their outside shooting, as they knocked down 6-of-12 shots from behind the arc, while also hitting nearly 47 percent of their shots from the field.

Maryville blew the game open by starting the second period on a 20-10 run, building a 65-48 advantage with 12:32 left in the contest.

Huntingdon ended the game by scoring seven of the final eight points during the final five minutes, but the early second-half margin was too much to overcome.

Despite the late comeback and outrebounding their opponent by nine, the Hawks were unable to withstand 19 turnovers in the contest, leading to 26 points by the Scots.

Hernandez finished with 24 points, while Watson added 23 for the Scots in the victory, the only two players to score in double figures for the team. Hernandez added nine rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.

Huntingdon finished the 2009-10 season with an 11-14 season, including a 2-4 mark in league play. Maryville will advance to play the winner of the Piedmont vs. LaGrange game on Saturday at 4 p.m. for the GSAC Championship.