Second Half Rally Lifts Greensboro College Men’s Basketball Past Huntingdon 75-71

(GREENSBORO, N.C.) — The Pride men’s basketball team rallied from a 36-31 halftime deficit and held off Huntingdon down the stretch for a 75-71.
After going ahead in the second frame, Greensboro built up a 68-59 lead with 5:18 to play. The Hawks chipped away at the margin and pulled to within 72-71 with 51 seconds remaining.

On the next Pride possession, Luqman Tijani was fouled on a second chance put back. Tijani went to the line and converted two free throws to push the advantage to 74-71 with 21 seconds left.

Huntingdon had one final opportunity to tie the game, but Ryan Petty’s three point attempt was off target. Tijani grabbed the rebound and was fouled with five seconds on the clock. He made the second of two shots to push the gap to 75-71 and put the game away.

Greensboro jumped out to a 25-19 just over midway through the first half. The Hawks fought their way back and took the lead at 28-27 with 5:58 to go. After The Pride regained the lead at 31-30, Huntingdon scored the final six points of the half to take a 36-31 advantage into the break.

The Hawks extended the gap to 42-35 in the second before Greensboro rallied to even the score at 50-50 at the ten minute mark. The Pride slowly added to the lead and eventually built up a nine point lead at 68-59 with 5:18 remaining before Huntingdon made its last push.

Tijani recorded a game high 24 points to go along with eight rebounds in the win. Damian Dixoncontributed a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Also chipping in with double figures in scoring were Raheem Martin with 13 points and Brian Thomas with 11 points.

As a team, Greensboro shot 32.5% from the field compared to 50.0% for the Hawks. However, The Pride forced 21 turnovers, while committing seven and held a slight 46-45 advantage on the boards.

Greensboro improves to 4-3 overall with the win. The Pride will next be in action on December 18 at Barber Scotia.