Men's Basketball | 2/27/2014 3:59:00 PM

Box Score MARYVILLE, Tenn. – Byron Dudley hit a go-ahead jumper with eight seconds to play and Jason Varney drilled a pair of free throws with three seconds to play as third-seeded Huntingdon rallied for a 92-89 win over No. 6 Methodist in the opening round of the USA South Men's Basketball Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

Following a pair of free throws by Tabias Hilliard, the Moanrchs (10-16) held an 84-77 lead with 2:55 to play before Huntingdon began its rally. Back-to-back jumpers by Terry Moorer and Austin Hill, followed by a free throw by Moorer, trimmed MU's lead to two points (84-82) by the 2:08 mark. Keith Corbett pushed the Monarchs' lead back to four points with a pair of free throws, but three straight shots from the charity stripe by Hill inched the Hawks to within a single point (86-85) with 57 seconds to play.

T.J. Gill answered for MU with a three-pointer with 34 seconds to play that gave MU an 89-85 lead, following an HC timeout, Hill answered with a three of his own to pull Huntingdon within one, 89-88, with 26 ticks on the clock.

With 16 seconds to play, MU's Chris Vinson was sent to the line with a chance to pad the Methodist advantage, but missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Moorer pulled down the defensive rebound. That set up Dudley's go-ahead basket which came after he corralled an offensive rebound off his own miss.

On the ensuing MU possession, Hilliard was called for an offensive foul, giving the ball back to HC, and Varney made good on a pair of attempts from the line for a three-point edge, with three seconds to play. Gill missed a three as time expired.

Huntingdon's rally came after MU had extended a three-point halftime lead to as many as seven points in the second half and is spite of the fact the Monarchs shot 64.3 percent in the second half, including 66.7 percent from beyond the arc.

In the first half, MU trailed 30-25 with 6:17 on the clock following a layup from Varney, before using an 11-2 run to take a 36-32 lead on a Bryan Hockaday layup with 2:36 to play. Keemon Ingram began the run with back-to-back three's and Corbett added a three-point play prior to Hockaday's layup. The Hawks immediately answered with a brief 5-0 spurt to regain a 37-36 lead on a three-point play by Moorer with 1:04 on the clock. Hockaday then scored the final four points of the first half to give MU a 40-37 lead at the break.

For the game, MU shot 47.8 percent from the floor (32-67), including 44.4 percent from beyond the arc (8-18). Huntingdon shot 44.6 percent overall (33-74) and 47.1 percent from deep (8-17). The Hawks held a slight advantage on the boards, 44-40, and committed 12 turnovers to MU's 16.

Hilliard led MU with 21 points and eight assist. Hockaday added 19 points, 14 rebounds, six assist and five blocked shots, and Ingram scored a season-best 17 points, including 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range. Desmond Parker added 10 points, six boards and three steals.


For Huntingdon, Hill scored a team-best 20 points and added 12 boards. Moorer chipped in 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Varney finished with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. Jerome Davis chipped in 12 points and eight helpers.

With the loss, the Monarchs have now wrapped up the 2013-14 season, while Huntingdon advances to Friday's semifinal round of the USA South Tournament.