FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Troynell Reese poured in a career-high 25 points as the Methodist men's basketball team held off Huntingdon 79-68 on Saturday afternoon at the Riddle Center.
 
The Monarchs improved to 12-3 overall an 7-1 in league play, while the Hawks fell to 7-8 overall and 2-6 in the USA South.
 
Reese made his first seven shots from the floor and scored 19 points in the first half, eclipsing his previous career-high of 18 points. He added nine rebounds and a pair of steals. Davion Ayabarreno, the Monarchs' leading scorer, was held scoreless in the first half but scored 16 second-half points, Bryan Rouse added 11 points, also all in the second half, Jackson Whitley had a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds to go with four blocks, and Rae Hall added 10 points with four assists.
 
Methodist, behind eight early points from Reese, including six in a row that featured a pair of big dunks, raced out to a 13-4 lead by the 14:08 mark of the first half and appeared set to post a runaway win. However, the Hawks answered with an 11-3 run to pull within 17-14 on Kyante Pines' triple at the 9:09 mark.
 
Reese countered with his third dunk of the opening half to kick start a 12-4 burst for the Green & Gold. Rouse followed with a lob to Whitley and Reese connected from deep to make it 24-16. Reese added another bucket and Dante Jackson contributed a pair of free throws to put the score at 29-18 with 5:23.
 
Huntingdon managed to keep the contest within reach, however, and closed the period outscoring MU 17-6 for a 35-35 contest at halftime. Methodist missed its final six shots of the first half, but did hit on 6 of 6 attempts at the charity stripe.
 
In the second half, Brandon McLean's layup to open play gave HC its first lead of the game at 37-35 and the back-and-forth play continued until a late 7-0 run gave MU some breathing room. Rouse knocked down a jumper, his first points of the contest, to break a 49-49 tie with 9:09 to play. He followed with three points the old fashioned way, and Ayabarreno contributed a pair of free throws following a technical foul on the Huntingdon bench to make it 56-49 with 8:42 remaining.
 
The Hawks managed to cut their deficit to three points on three different occasions, but the last time MU countered with an 8-2 burst to take a nine-point lead (69-60) with 2:01 left and Rouse and Ayabarreno combined to score 10 of MU's final 12 points as the Monarchs picked up the win.
 
As a team, Methodist shot 43.1 percent from the floor (28-65) and held HC to 40.0 percent shooting (26-65). The Hawks did hit 7 of 21 three-point attempts (.333) compared to 1 of 15 shooting (.067) from long range for MU. The Monarchs countered by getting to the free throw line 32 times, making good on 22 attempts (.688), while HC was just 9 of 18 (.500) from the stripe. The Hawks held a 44-42 edge in rebounding, but the Monarchs forced 17 turnovers and committed a season-low eight miscues.
 
McLean led the Hawks with 18 points, eight boards and five blocked shots. T.C. Elmore added 13 points and six rebounds, while Kyante Pines chipped in 10 points and six boards.
 
Methodist will host LaGrange in a rematch of last season's USA South Championship contest, won by LaGrange, on Sunday at 3 pm.