Men's Basketball | 2/8/2014 6:09:00 PM

Box Score FERRUM, Va. -- Tabias Hilliard scored a game-high 21 points, but missed a potential game-tying jumper in the game's final seconds as the Ferrum men's basketball team upended Methodist, 65-63, on Saturday afternoon.
 
After Ferrum's Marvin Wilson drilled a jumper that gave Ferrum a 64-60 lead with 39 seconds to play, Keith Corbett answered for the Monarchs with a triple off a feed from Hilliard nine seconds later to make it a 64-63 game with 28 seconds on the clock. Following Corbett's triple, Rashawn Speas was sent to the line, where he made good on 1-of-2 free throws to give the Panthers a two-point edge (65-63) with just 13 seconds to play. Coming out of a timeout, MU worked the ball to Hilliard, whose jump shot with two seconds remaining was off the mark.
 
Hilliard finished 8-of-14 from the floor (2-2 3-PT) and 3-of-3 from the line in notching his second 20+ game of the season. He was joined in double figures by Bryan Hockaday, who notched a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The second half, in which neither team led by more than five points over the final 18+ minutes, was preceded by a largely competitive first half. The Panthers took the largest lead of the game for either team at 20-11 following a Jamal Pullen jumper at the 10:42 mark. The Monarchs managed to trim their deficit to three points (20-17) following back-to-back baskets by Hilliard and Hockaday, before Pullen countered with a layup for a 22-17 lead just over seven minutes before intermission. FC extended its lead out to seven points, but Hilliard drained a pair of free throws just five seconds before halftime, his 13th and 14th points of the first half, to make it a 30-25 game at halftime.
 
The contest was an even affair as MU shot 46.4 percent from the floor (26-56), while Ferrum shot 46.9 percent (23-49). Ferrum knocked down five three-pointers, to MU's four, and both teams finished with 30 rebounds. Additionally, Ferrum had five turnovers to MU's seven. Ferrum did hold a decided edge at the charity stripe, where it connected on 14-of-16 attempts (.875), while MU only got the line 14 times, connecting just seven times (.500).
 
For Ferrum, Pullen scored a team-high 16 points, and grabbed seven rebounds. Brian Clarke chipped in 13 points and three assists and Alex Ayer totaled nine points and nine rebounds.
 
Methodist is back in action on Wednesday when they travel to William Peace for a 7:30 pm contest.