MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Berea College men's basketball shot an efficient 51.7 percent from the field to down Huntingdon College (Ala.) 85-81 on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, the Mountaineers snap their seven-game losing streak.

The Mountaineers secure their first conference win of the season while improving their overall record to 5-12, while the Hawks fall to 6-11 overall and 0-6 in conference play.

Freshman guard Trey Minter led the scoring efforts for Berea with 22 points while knocking down five of his seven attempts at the free-throw line. Junior guard Isaac Caudill came close to a double-double, grabbing nine rebounds to pair with his 19 points. Freshman guard Marquis Mackey had a career afternoon, scoring a career-high 15 points and recording five rebounds and three assists.

Berea came out shooting well, knocking down 14 of their 31 attempts and hitting five three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Along with their offensive production, the Mountaineers won the turnover battle, forcing seven Hawks turnovers compared to their three miscues. The Mountaineers took a 7-0 lead to begin the contest as freshman guard Jarel Montgomery converted a tough layup while earning a trip to the free-throw line to push Berea. Huntingdon minimized the damage, however, hitting back-to-back three-pointers to trail 7-6 with 15:28 remaining in the half.

The Mountaineers expanded the lead to six as Minter went on a personal run, finishing two layups and earning a visit to the charity stripe on one of his layups to take a 12-6 advantage. Every time Berea attempted to pull away, the Hawks came firing back as Huntingdon tied the contest on a couple of occasions and even held small leads.

Tied at 24-24 with 6:48 until halftime, Berea used a 14-3 run to grab a double-digit advantage. Montgomery swung the ball to Mackey who netted a shot from beyond the arc to spark the Mountaineers' run. After a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Tyler Boggs, Caudill knocked down a three-pointer to continue Berea's momentum. The Mountaineers carried this energy for the duration of the half, taking a 39-30 lead going into halftime.

Berea maintained that momentum they had at the end of the first half into the start of the second, growing their lead to as large as 13 and keeping the Hawks at a double-digit deficit for the first eight minutes of the second frame. However, Huntingdon wasn't ready to give up as they cut the lead 55-53 with 10:25 left in the game.

Freshman guard Aaron Leake provided Berea with some breathing room when sophomore guard Kevion Hudson connected consecutive passes on back-to-back layups with 9:09 left in the contest. The Hawks eventually tied the game, but Caudill's fourth three-pointer of the afternoon pushed the Mountaineers in front 64-61 with a little under eight minutes remaining.

The Mountaineers executed their game plan well late in the contest, taking a double-digit lead in the closing moments. The Hawks tied to make it a free-throw contest late, but Berea shot 11-for-16 from the line. Huntingdon had done well to draw the contest close, cutting the deficit back to single digits, but there wasn't enough time on the clock as the Mountaineers earned a hard-fought 85-81 victory over Huntingdon.

The Berea College men's basketball team returns home on Thursday, Feb. 3 to battle Piedmont University (Ga.). Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. at the Seabury Center.