Men's Basketball | 12/8/2012 3:45:00 PM

Box Score FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist men's basketball team had four players reach double figures in scoring and held a 57-36 advantage on the boards in defeating Huntingdon, 74-55, on Saturday afternoon at the Riddle Center.
 
James Whitehead scored a game-high 20 points for the Monarchs, including 18 in the second half, and Kyle Combs (10 pts., 13 rebs.) and Bryan Hockaday (14 pts., 13 rebs.) each recorded double-doubles as MU notched its first win of the season to improve to 1-4 while the Hawks slipped to 1-5.
 
Both teams found the scoring difficult to come by in the first half, combining to make just 17-of-70 (.243) shots from the field. After DeAngelo Norris gave Huntingdon a one-point lead (14-13) at the 9:06 mark of the first half, the Monarchs used a 12-4 run to end the half to take a 25-18 lead into the break. Joey Horne started the run with a layup, giving Methodist a 15-14 lead that it would never relinquish.
 
A layup from Combs on the Monarchs' next possession pushed their lead to three (17-14) and after nearly three minutes without a basket by either team, Tabias Hilliard and Christian McRae converted around a pair of free throws from Hockaday to push the MU lead to 23-16 with 4:08 to play. Hockaday added two more free throws in the closing seconds of the first half after a layup by the Hawks' Ryan Petty to account for the seven-point game at the break.
 
In the second half, MU hit on 17-of-30 shots from the floor and saw its lead reach 28 points (66-38) with 5:12 to play in posting the 19-point win. The Monarchs opened the second half outscoring the Hawks, 14-4, over the first 4:32 to assume a 17-point lead (39-22) on a layup by Brandon Monk  and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
 
For the game, MU limited Huntingdon to 33.3 percent shooting (22-66) from the floor and forced 18 turnovers. Methodist finished the game at 38.2 percent shooting (26-58), thanks in large part to the improved accuracy in the second half. The Monarchs also made good on 18-of-24 (.750) shots from the free throw line, while the Hawks hit on just 5-of-11 (.455).
 
Whitehead made seven of his 11 field goal attempts, and all four of his free-throw attempts in posting 20 or more points for the third time this season. Hilliard joined Whitehead, Combs and Hockaday in double figures with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and added three assists and two steals.
 
Byron Dudley led the Hawks with eight points off the bench. Ryan Petty, who came in averaging over 15.0 points per game, finished with seven points on 3-of-9 shooting. Austin Hill grabbed a team-high six rebounds and added five points.
 
The Monarchs return to action on Saturday when they travel to Randolph for a 2:00 pm contest.