Saturday, February 14, 2009— Junior Heath Miller scored a season- high 17 points, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, but it was not enough as the Huntingdon men’s basketball team fell to Maryville 86-73 Saturday afternoon at Roland Arena.

With a tie for first place in the Great South Athletic Conference on the line, the Hawks (11-11, 3-2 GSAC) opened up a 10 point lead in the first half, behind a pair of 3-pointers from Miller. Huntingdon pushed the lead to as many as 11 points on a free throw by senior Jeremy Pittman, but Maryville (16-6, 5-0) pulled within four, 46-42, at the half.

Both teams shot well in the first half, as the Hawks hit 55 percent, 16-of-29, of their shots from the field, including an even better 63 percent from beyond the arc. However, Maryville managed to shoot 58 percent, 15-of-26, from the field and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line.

In the second half, Miller picked up right where he left off, as he connected on his fourth consecutive 3-pointer to extend the lead to seven, 49-42. However, a 17-10 spurt, capped by a trey from Andrew Shumate at the 11:12 mark to tie the game at 59.

Shumate followed with a tip-in at the 9:26 mark, giving Maryville the lead for good.

In the second half, Maryville outscored Huntingdon 44-27. The Scots shot 40 percent from the field in the second half, while holding the Hawks to just 27 percent. The shooting struggles also moved to the charity stripe in the second half, where Huntingdon knocked down 90 percent in the first half, compared to only 27 percent, 3-of-11, in the second. In contrast, the Scots hit 85 percent, 22-of-26, of their free throws for the game.

Sophomore Deshaun Williams added 16 points, while senior Jeremy Pittman had 15. Senior Reggie Sprouse chipped in 14 points.

Wes Lambert led four Scots in double figures, scoring a game-high 21 points. However, Huntingdon was able to slow down Maryville ’s leading scorer Greg Hernandez to nearly 10 points below his season average.

Huntingdon will look to rebound on Thursday, Feb. 14, as it hosts Lagrange. The tip is set for 7 p.m. at Roland Arena.
----Courtesy: Caleb Schmidt