ATLANTA, Ga.- Entering the first NCAA tournament game in program history, Huntingdon Men's Basketball squared off with the #5 ranked Emory Eagles in their home gym.
After falling behind 10-0 within the first minute of the game, the Hawks stormed back to take a 13-12 lead. After trading baskets through the midway point of the first half, Emory found a second wind approaching halftime to take a 50-29 lead into the lockerroom. Huntingdon outscored the Eagles 39-33 in the second half, but couldn't overcome the first half deficit as Emory eliminated the Hawks from the national tournament, 83-68.
How it happened
As previously mentioned, the Eagles opened the game with a 10-0 run through the first minute before extending their lead to 12-2 by the 17:56 mark. Led by the all-CCS trio of Martise Jackson, BJ Brown, and Nate Johns, the Hawks answered with an 11-0 run over the course of the next three minutes to claim a 13-12 advantage over the #5 team in the nation. Emory responded on the following possession with a layup to reclaim the lead momentarily, but freshman Keyshawn Dickey''s triple from the right corner put the Huntingdon back in front, 16-15 with 13 and a half minutes to go.
Through the next two minutes, the Eagles pieced together another 10-0 run to bring their lead to 25-16 with 11:13 remaining in the half. Martise Jacksonstopped the bleeding with a short jumper on the following possession, but Emory's lead returned to double-digits by the 9:55 mark, 29-18. BJ Brown put in a basket before finding Ray'Quan Taylor on an alley-oop to cut the deficit to 29-22 with 9 and a half minutes to go, but Emory continued to find ways to score. By the 4:17 mark in the half, their lead had grown to 39-25. Consecutive baskets from Johns and Jaylen Washington served as the Hawks final four points of the half, as Emory grew their halftime lead to 50-29.
Contrary to the start of the first half, the two teams traded body blows in the early stages of the second half. With around 17 minutes remaining in regulation, another Eagle triple extended Emory's lead to as much as 61-37. Huntingdon continued to battle, with Dickey and Jackson each contributing as a part of a 5-0 Huntingdon run that cut the lead to 20, 61-41, by the 15 minute mark. Every time that Huntingdon seemed to start to find their rhythm, the Eagles hit another timely free, as seen at the 12:28 mark when the Hawks deficit grew to 70-43.
Trailing 76-49 with 8:15 remaining, baskets from Ray'Quan Taylor sparked a 7-1 Huntingdon run that brought the deficit to 77-56 with 5:52 to go. In the final stages of regulation, Huntingdon outscored Emory 12-4, but it proved to be too late, as the Hawks were defeated 83-68.
Game Notes
- The Hawks couldn't get going from behind the arc, shooting 3/26 on tries from deep. Emory cashed in on 6 of their 29 tries
- For the first time this post season, Huntingdon was outrebounded, 52-45.
Hawk Top Performers
This loss has eliminated the Hawks from the NCAA tournament and brought an end to their historic 2024-2025 campaign. Huntingdon finished with an overall record of 22-7 while winning the CCS title and qualifying for the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. This was the program's first winning season in 19 years and marks a 20-game improvement from their 2022-2023 season, which ended with an overall record of 2-23. Stay tuned for news to come of the Hawks 2025-2026 season.