Hawks Second Half Push Comes Up Short At LaGrange

LAGRANGE,Ga.- Huntingdon men's basketball (8-10 overall, 2-3 CCS) was taken down by the Panthers of LaGrange (11-7 overall, 3-3 CCS) in a high scoring contest, 100-96.

How it happened

First Half

• The Hawks jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead with baskets coming from Tate Goolesby and BJ Brown

• LaGrange responded with an 8-0 scoring run to take an 8-4 lead with 17:27 remaining in the half

• Two Panther free throws at the 13:42 mark gave LaGrange a double digit lead, 18-8

• After multiple possessions of trading baskets and stops, the Hawks would go on a 7-0 scoring run to bring the LaGrange lead down to 3, 28-25, with 5:49 to go until halftime

• Continuing to battle, a layup from Randall Davis brought the Hawks within one point, 35-34, with 2:59 to go until halftime

• LaGrange closed the half with a 10-0 run, putting the Hawks behind 45-34 at the break

Second Half

• Randall Davis slammed one home off an assist from Max Gardner to score the opening points of the second half

• LaGrange extended their lead to 57-40 with 17:09 remaining in the game

• Trailing 66-46 with 13:58 remaining, Huntingdon went on a 5-0 run led by Nate Johns to cut the lead to 66-51

• Two three pointers from Daquan Hawkins sparked a massive 17-8 run to bring the Hawks within 6, 74-68, with 8:59 remaining

• Tate Goolesby drilled a free throw to put the Hawks down 83-81 with 4:37 remaining

• Max Gardner rang home a shot from deep to put Huntingdon down 95-92 with 2:13 remaining, but the Hawks late push would be too late, taking a 100-96 loss.

Key Notes

• LaGrange made 24 of their 30 free throw attempts while Huntingdon only cashed in on 13 of their 27 tries

• Huntingdon outrebounded the Panthers 55-53

• Huntingdon scored 50 points in the paint

• LaGrange did not lose the lead once they took it from the Hawks early in the first half

Hawk Top Performers

• #2 Max Gardner- 13 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists

•  #3 Nate Johns- 14 points, 10 rebounds

• #4 BJ Brown- 21 points, 5 rebounds

The Hawks look to bounce back on January 30th at home against Belhaven. Tip off is set for 7:00 PM CT.