Taylor's Double-Double Pushes Huntingdon Past Luther

ATLANTA, Ga.- Wrapping up the 2024 calendar year in Atlanta, Huntingdon men's basketball squared off with Luther University. Looking to avenge their loss from yesterday to Albion, the Hawks led from end-to-end in a 64-50 win over the Norse. Throughout the game, RayQuan Taylor controlled the paint, recording his first double-double with 15 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

First Half

• Neither of the two squads could get things going offensively, with Luther cashing in on a jumper to take a 6-5 lead by the 16 minute mark

• Continuing to trade stops as the half wore on, BJ Brown's layup at the 9:47 mark evened things up at 14 before RayQuan Taylor put in a layup to give the Hawks a 16-14 lead

• DaQuan Hawkins followed another layup from Taylor with a shot from deep to extend the Hawks lead to 21-14 with 5:27 remaining in the half

• Over the course of the following possessions, both teams traded shots from behind-the-arc. Baskets from Jeremy Autin and Hawkins gave the Hawks a 29-25 lead entering the halftime break

Second Half

• Taylor led Huntingdon's offensive attack as the second half got underway, scoring the team's four points as the Hawks held on to a 33-30 lead by the 17 minute mark

• Shortly thereafter, the Hawks opened up a 10-3 run, sparked by two more DaQuan Hawkins three-pointers, to push Huntingdon's lead to 43-33 by the 13 minute mark

• A pair of Luther free throws cut Huntingdon's lead to 46-40, but points from Nate Johns, Martise Jackson, and Keyshawn Dickey brought Huntingdon's lead back to double-digits, 52-42 with 7:25 remaining

• Back-to-back triples from Eric Moore and RayQuan Taylor grew Huntingdon's lead to 58-44 entering the final five minutes. BJ Brown iced the game with back-to-back layups to give the Hawks a 64-50 win.

Key Notes

• The Hawks dominated the glass, collecting 56 boards compared to 37 from Luther

• The Hawks were hot from behind-the-arc, cashing in on 11 of their 26 shots from deep

Hawk Top Performers

• #33 RayQuan Taylor- 15 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks

• #1 DaQuan Hawkins- 12 points, 4/6 from three

With this win, Huntingdon finishes conference play with a 10-2 record. They look forward to kicking off the 2025 year and conference play with a home game against LaGrange on January 4th. Gametime is set for 4:00 PM CT.