WILMORE, Ky.- Off the heels of their comeback victory at home against LaGrange, Huntingdon Men's Basketball captured their fourth consecutive conference victory, this time taking down the Asbury University Eagles 87-81 on the road.
First Half
It was a hot start for Huntingdon, as Tyler Mallory, Owen LaRocca, and Myles Murphy each capitalized on two-pointers early to put the Hawks ahead 6-0 approaching the 17 minute mark. Asbury finally got on the board with a layup at shortly after, but shots from Murphy and Isaiah Knight sawthe Huntingdon lead grow to 10-5 with 15 minutes remaining. The Eagles battled back however, opening up a 6-0 run to capture their first lead of the contest at the 13:28 mark with an and-one free throw. Their lead proved to be short lived, as Knight drilled a shot from behind the arc on the ensuing possession to restore the Huntingdon lead 13-11. The two teams went on to trade baskets and stops through the majority of the half, with the breaking point coming inside the final 5 minutes following a run from Asbury that saw the Eagles move in front 28-22 with 4:22 to go. The Hawks answered in a big way however, seeing contributions from Keyshawn Dickey, Andersen Madyun, Jeremy Autin, Mallory, and LaRocca as Huntingdon pieced together a 12-0 run to close the half- bringing their lead to 34-28 at the break.
Second Half
Huntingdon kept their hot hand coming out for the second half, seeing shots fall from Marcus Townsend and Myles Murphy inside the opening minute to extend their lead to a game-high of 10, 38-28, by the 19:10 mark in the half. Per the theme of the contest however, Asbury stormed back with a run to cut the lead to just two, 47-45, approaching the 13 minute mark before capturing a 52-49 lead of their own with 11:39 to go. Huntingdon continued to battle, trading baskets for stops on the next possessions which put Myles Murphy in position to sink a triple at the 9:38 mark to return the lead back to the Hawks, 59-58. Tyler Mallory, who was held to just 7 points in the first half, caught fire in the second, scoring 18 in the second, including a layup at the 8:16 mark that sparked a 6-0 Hawks run that proved to be the difference in the contest. Huntingdon, ahead 70-64 with 6:48 to go, held onto their lead for the duration of the second half and even extended it to as much as 12, 82-70, following baskets from Mallory and Madyun with 3 minutes to go. The Eagles came on strong late to try and muster a late comeback, but Huntingdon remained poised at the line to walk away with the 87-81 victory.
Hawk Top Performers
The Hawks will look to keep rolling as they hit the road to face the conference front-runners, Maryville, on January 24th. Tip-off is set for 3:00 PM CT.