Hawks Come Up Short Against Belhaven

MONTGOMERY,Ala.- Back in action for the first time in 10 days, Huntingdon men's basketball (8-11 overall, 2-4 CCS) fell to the Belhaven University Blazers( 14-7 overall, 6-3 CCS) 85-78.

How it happened

First half

• The Hawks started the game with an aggressive dunk from Randall Davis off an assist from BJ Brown to score the first points of the game

• Not to be outdone, the Blazers matched Davis' slam with an emphatic one of their own, evening taking a 5-4 lead off the and-1 free throw

• After trading baskets over the course of the next few possessions, the Hawks defense earned a stop and Nate Johns slammed one home on the other end to take a 11-7 lead at the 14:36 mark

• Belhaven followed Johns' dunk with a 10-0 run, taking a 17-11 lead with 11:38 remaining in the half

• Jaylen Washington drilled the second of his five made triples to stop the bleeding, cutting into the Blazers lead 19-14 with 10 minutes to go until halftime

• Down 26-21 with 5:35 left in the half, Myles Murphy put in a jumper that sparked a 7-0 run from the Hawks, giving Huntingdon back the lead 28-26 with 4:24 to go until halftime

• Belhaven kept the hot hand however, outscoring the Hawks 13-4 in the final 3 minutes to take a 39-32 lead into halftime.

Second half

• Jaylen Washington continued to fuel the Hawks offensive attack with a shot from deep to open the half, bringing the score to 39-35

• BJ Brown matched Washington's triple on the next possession, putting the Hawks down 39-38 at the 18:38 mark

• Building off of the hot start from deep, Max Gardner rang home a one-legged three pointer, which BJ Brown followed with another one of his own to give the Huntingdon a 44-43 lead at the 16:52 mark

• Belhaven retook the lead off a layup at the 13:13 mark, 50-48

• After multiple possessions of trading baskets and free throws, Myles Murphy found room around the basket to even the game at 57 with 9 minutes to go

• Jaylen Washington stepped into yet another triple to give Huntingdon a 62-59 advantage with 7:54 remaining in the game

• Trailing 68-62, Belhaven went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 68-67 with 4:15 to go

• Down the stretch, Belhaven found a second win that the Hawks could not respond to, scoring key baskets and forcing multiple turnovers to take a 85-78 victory

Key Notes

• Belhaven shot 35 attempts from the line compared to 20 from the Hawks

• Huntingdon made 10 of their 33 tries from deep, boasting a 33% 3 point percentage over the Blazers 23%

• Behaven's bench outscored Huntingdon's 29-17

Hawk Top Performers

• #2 Max Gardner- 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists

• #24 Jaylen Washington- 19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 made three pointers

• #4 BJ Brown- 15 points, 9 assists

The Hawks return to action on February 2nd on the road at Berea. Tip off is set for 6:00 PM CT.