ROME, Ga.- Traveling to Georgia for a mid-season exhibition, Huntingdon men's basketball stepped into the Winthrop-King Centre and defeated the Division II Shorter University Hawks 95-90 in an offensive duel. Sophomore guard BJ Brown once again had an exceptional showing, recording a career-high 34 points to lead the Hawks to their fifth consecutive victory heading into the Thanksgiving holiday.
How it happened
First Half
- With points coming from four different Hawks(Nate Johns, BJ Brown, Martise Jackson, Tate Goolesby), Huntingdon flew out of the gates to take a 12-2 lead by the 16:27 mark, forcing multiple turnovers as a part of the key run
- Over the course of the next four minutes, Shorter stopped the bleeding and put together a run of their own, drilling a midrange jumper to bring the score to 16-13 with 12 minutes remaining in the half
- Shorter continued to feed off their hot shooting, with another jumpshot putting the Hawks ahead 22-21 by the 10:44 mark. This jumper put a stamp on a 20-9 run.
- Not to be outdone, DaQuan Hawkins hit a shot from deep to tie the game before a RayQuan Taylor layup handed the lead back to Huntingdon 26-25.
- Shorter kept clawing away at the lead, but another Huntingdon three, this time from Eric Moore, pushed the Hawks lead back to six, 37-31 just inside of the final five minutes in the half
- Tate Goolesby knifed through the lane and threw down a thunderous slam at the 2:37 mark to end a two-minute scoring hiatus from both teams. Free throws from BJ Brown and Nate Johns gave Huntingdon a 45-33 lead heading into the second half
Second Half
- Shorter came out of halftime swinging, going on a 5-1 run in the opening 30 seconds to cut the Huntingdon lead to 46-38. Martise Jackson stopped the bleeding with a layup at the 19:23 mark to bring the Hawks lead back to double-digits
- An 11-4 Shorter run over the course of the next four minutes brought the score to 52-49 by the 15:53 mark, setting the stage for a dramatic finish
- DaQuan Hawkins knocked down another timely three-pointer to bring the Hawks lead back to 57-49 with 14:46 remaining
- A Randall Davis dunk at the 13:36 mark extended Huntingdon's lead back to 61-51 just inside the 14 minute mark
- Over the next six and a half minutes, the two teams traded blows before a 8-2 run in favor of Shorter cut Huntingdon's lead to 77-72 by the 5:48 mark
- Consecutive baskets from BJ Brown and Randall Davis grew Huntingdon's lead to 83-74, but Shorter kept scrapping away to make the score 86-80 with 1:33 to go
- Another three pointer from Brown at the 1:11 mark looked to be the dagger as it gave Huntingdon a 89-80 lead, but Shorter stormed back with a 10-2 run to trail 91-90 with 36 seconds remaining. Nate Johns put in a clutch jumper inside the final 15 seconds, and the Hawks were able to capitalize on two missed free throws from Shorter to drain the clock and take the 95-90.
Key Notes
- Huntingdon was in a rhythm all night, shooting 60% from the field, 40% from three, and 85% from the charity stripe
- Shorter forced more turnovers, but the Hawks dominated the paint and controlled the pace all night, with 58 of the teams points coming from the paint and 25 coming by way of transition
Hawk Top Performers
The Hawks return to action on December 3rd, traveling to face Millsaps. Gametime is set for 6:00 PM CT.