Hawks Take Down SAA Preseason-Favorite Sewanee On The Road

Sewanee, TN.- Getting their season underway in the mountains, Huntingdon men's basketball defeated the Sewanee Tigers, voted to finish first in the SAA preseason coaches poll, 77-73 on the road in their season opener.

How it happened

First Half

• Picking up right where they left off last season, BJ Brown found Nate Johns streaking down the court for Huntingdon's first points of the season at the 19:08 mark
• With Sewanee going ahead 12-5 by the 15:52 mark in the half, buckets from Randall Davis and DaQuan Hawkins allowed the Hawks to even the score at the 13:57 mark before taking a 14-12 lead courtesy of a RayQuan Taylor layup.
• Two more baskets from Taylor inside the lane pushed Huntingdon's lead to as much as 18-12 midway through the half
• Consecutive Tiger three-pointers allowed for Sewanee to tie the game, but Taylor kept his hot hand, drilling a three of his own to put the Hawks back in front 21-18.
• After a pair of Sewanee free throws cut the Huntingdon lead to 23-22, reigning CCS rookie of the year BJ Brown answered the bell with a triple to push the Hawks lead back to four.
• Despite a Martise Jackson layup just inside the 3:00 mark in the half, Sewanee cashed in on a four-point-play to take a 1 point lead on the following possession
• Closing the half strong, layups from Tate Goolesby, Nate Johns, and BJ Brown gave Huntingdon a 41-37 advantage entering the second half

Second Half

• The two teams began the second half trading baskets, with Goolesby and Johns putting in layups to hold off the Tigers. As a result, Huntingdon maintained a 45-43 lead by the 17:30 mark
• Looking to get the Hawks over the hump, Randall Davis threw down a slam at the 15:54 mark to extend the Hawks lead to 49-45
• As the heavyweight battle continued to wear on, Sewanee recaptured a 52-50 lead that they would hold for the better part of two minutes before another triple from DaQuan Hawkins handed the lead back to the Hawks with 11:50 remaining in regulation
• As the two teams continued to trade baskets, they traded leads, with baskets from Myles Murphy and RaQuan Taylor reclaiming previously lost Huntingdon leads. As a result, the Hawks held on to a slight 67-66 lead with six and a half minutes to go.
• Sewanee managed to drop another three to go ahead 71-69 with a little less than five minutes to go, but Randall Davis evened the score on the following possession with a jumper from the midrange.
• A short jumpshot from Jeremy Autin put the Hawks back in front 73-71 with 3:42 remaining, which Myles Murphy followed with another layup to extend the lead to 75-71 as the clock continued to dwindle down
• Following a Tiger layup to bring the score to 75-73 with 45 seconds to go, Murphy secured a loose ball and put in another layup to give Huntingdon a 77-73 lead that resulted in the Hawks claiming a massive season-opening victory.

Key Highlights

• The two teams were neck-and-neck all night, as the game featured 30 lead changes and 16 ties
• Huntingdon dominated the glass, securing 55 rebounds compared to 44 from Sewanee
• The Hawks left some chances at the charity stripe, only converting on 25% of their free throws on the night

Hawk Top Performers

• #4 BJ Brown- 11 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists
• #33 RayQuan Taylor- 14 points, 4 rebounds
• #34 Randall Davis- 11 points, 9 rebounds

Head coach Zac Richards on his team's performance:

"I'm incredibly proud of my guys. Sewanee is a strong team, led by a great coach(Brian Emerson), and they will win a lot of games this season. This overall was a fantastic team win and we're looking forward to another test tomorrow."

The Hawks look to capture their season-opening momentum as they head into a game against Oglethorpe University tomorrow, November 9th hosted by Sewanee. Gametime is set for 3:00 PM CT.