Hawks Drop Close Battle with MUW

MONTGOMERY,Ala.- Huntingdon men's basketball (2-4 overall) fell to the Owls of the Mississippi University for Women (3-1) in a tightly contested battle, 83-80.

Highlights 

First Half

• The beginning of this half was marked by strong defense, with both teams exchanging multiple stops in the early minutes. The Owls jumped out to a lead over the Hawks though, leading 10-5 with 15:08 remaining in the half.

• Trailing 19-10 with 10:39 remaining, Jaylen Washington drilled a shot from deep, bringing the Hawks within 6.

• Following another string of stops for each team, two free throws from Marcus Townsend and a layup from Randall Davis put the Hawks down 21-17 with 8:23 left in the first half.

• With 6:22 remaining, a three pointer from MUW gave them a double digit lead over Huntingdon, making the score 30-19.

• After going down double digits, shots from BJ Brown, Nate Johns, and Myles Murphy put the Hawks back within 5, down 30-25 with 5:26 left.

• Jaylen Washington's second three pointer of the game with 2:10 left in the half put the Hawks within 1 point, but the Owls would convert a shot from the mid range on the other end to bring the lead back to 38-35.

• A MUW free throw in the last 24 seconds would be the last points of the half, giving them a 41-35 lead over Huntingdon going into the break.

Second Half

• After forcing 3 quick misses from the Owls, a jump shot from center Randall Davis put Huntingdon down 41-37 with 19:13 to go.

• Back to back buckets from Tate Goolsby and Max Gardner would even the score at 41 with 18:28 remaining in the half, but MUW responded with a jumper of their own on the following possession to regain the slight lead, 43-41.

• Randall Davis would put in another layup to even the score at 43 with 17:51 to go.

• A free throw from Davis would give the Hawks a 44-43 lead at the 16:39 mark, their first lead since the score was 2-0.

• 5 points from Max Gardner at the 15:16 mark extended the Huntingdon lead to 49-43.

• A 5-0 Owl run at the 12:31 mark put MUW back within one, 53-52.

• MUW knotted the score with 9:50 to go, making the score 58-58.

• The owls knocked down a three point shot with 9 minutes to go, reclaiming their lead at 61-58.

• A 6-1 scoring run from MUW gave the Owls a 66-59 lead with 7:14 to go

• A three pointer from the Owls pushed the lead to 71-61 with 6:10 to go in the game.

• A three point jumper from Myles Murphy concluded a 7-0 Huntingdon run, making the score 78-76 with 1:43 left.

• Down 83-76, layups from Randall Davis and Tate Goolsby brought the Hawks closer, but the Hawks fell behind 83-80 as the final buzzer sounded.

Key Notes

• Both teams were hot, with MUW shooting 53% from the field and Huntingdon shooting 46%.

• MUW made 10 of their 20 three point attempts, while Huntingdon made 6 of their 15.

• Huntingdon outrebounded the Owls 37-32.

• The game consisted of 10 ties and 6 lead changes.

Hawk Top Performers

#2 Max Gardner- 18 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal,

#34 Randall Davis- 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block

#4 BJ Brown- 12 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds

Huntingdon looks to November 28th, when they host Pensacola Christian College. Tip off is set for 5:00 pm CT.