Strong Second Half Pushes The Hawks Past Asbury

MONTGOMERY, Ala.- Coming off a 2-0 conference road stretch, Huntingdon men's basketball returned to Roland Arena to face Asbury University in the inaugural CCS matchup between the two squads. After taking a slim 37-34 lead into the halftime break, the Hawks utilized a 20-4 run in the early stages of the second half to run away from the Eagles, claiming an 86-71 victory.

First Half

• With points coming from BJ Brown, RayQuan Taylor, and Tate Goolesby, the Hawks jumped out to an early 6-0 lead through four and-a-half minutes
• Asbury responded with an explosive 13-2 scoring run that put the Eagles ahead 13-10 by the 11:50 mark
• Not to be outdone, Huntingdon answered with a 6-0 run, finding contributions from Myles Murphy, Jaylon Stevenson, and DaQuan Hawkins to reclaim a 18-13 lead by the 9:16 mark
• Continuing to trade baskets as the half wore on, an Asbury free throw cut the Hawks lead to 24-22 entering the final five minutes of the half
• The Eagles knocked down a shot from deep at the 2:49 mark to go back in front, 29-28
• A Martise Jackson triple with 20 seconds remaining capped off a 9-2 Huntingdon run, giving the Hawks a 37-31 lead entering halftime

Second Half

• Picking up where he left off in the first half, Jackson kicked off the scoring for the Hawks in the second half with a layup at the 18:28 mark, but Asbury battled back to cut Huntingdon's lead to 41-40 by the 17:19 mark
• A pair of free throws from Eric Moore followed by another Martise Jackson triple extended Huntingdon's lead to 46-40 by the 16:45 mark
• Jackson's three-pointer sparked a 20-4 Huntingdon run over the course of the following three minutes, growing the Hawks lead to 59-42 following Jaylen Washington's shot from behind-the-arc
• A 7-0 Asbury run cut the Hawks lead to 63-51 with 11 minutes remaining
• Largely in part due to six consecutive points from RayQuan Taylor, the Hawks managed to piece together another run of their own to extend their lead to71-54 with 7 minutes to go
• The Eagles pieced together a run late, but Donovan Wilson's layup just inside the two minute mark put the game on ice, giving Huntingdon the 86-71 conference victory at home

Hawk Top Performers

• #4 BJ Brown- 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals
• #32 Jeremy Autin- 11 points, 4 rebounds
• #33 RayQuan Taylor- 13 points, 16 rebounds

The Hawks return to action inside of Roland Arena tomorrow, January 18th as they host Maryville. Tip-off is set for 4:00 PM CT.