MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Millsaps men's basketball team hung tough and closed its season-opening road trip in Alabama, falling to Huntingdon 81-77 inside the Catherine Dixon Roland Arena on Sunday.
 
Sophomore Dakota Gasca (three rebounds, two assists, 8-of-9 free throws) and junior Drew Roth (five rebounds, 3-of-5 from three-point range) both tallied 14 points.
 
Classmate Nicholas Ughovwa posted his first collegiate double-double with career highs of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Rodney Phillips Jr. recorded 10 points and five rebounds, while freshman Cameron Lumar totaled seven points and five boards.
 
Senior Aaron Ursin netted six points, eight rebounds and garnered four blocks.
 
Huntingdon raced out to a 5-0 lead early in the first quarter. A Roth layup and three pointer would cut the Majors deficit down by six points at 13-7. With 11 minutes remaining in the first half, the Majors would battle back with a powerful layup by Phillips Jr. to cut the lead to 20-15.
 
The Hawks advantage would stretch to 16 points, but moments later and a shot from Ughovwa and two consecutive layups by Lumar would shorten the deficit to 37-31.
 
Huntingdon then scored the last four points heading into halftime to lead, 43-33.
 
in the second half the Majors responded quickly with Ursin and Gasca layups. However, the lead would continue growing as Huntingdon utilized an 8-0 run to race ahead 51-37.
 
Millsaps would battle back within eight points following a freshman Kallin Fonseca three pointer with 10:56 remaining.
 
Huntingdon would remain in control building the lead and escape with an 87-71 win.
 
The Majors will next face rival Belhaven in the home opener inside the Hangar Dome on Wednesday, beginning at 8 p.m. Live video and live stats will be provided at gomajors.com.
 

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