Dominant Second Half Pushes Hawks Past Welch

GALLATIN, Tenn.- Coming off a road win at LaGrange, Huntingdon men's basketball took a pause from conference play, traveling to Gallatin to face the Welch College Flames. Trailing by three at the halftime break, the Hawks outscored Welch 51-25 in the second half to claim an emphatic 90-67 victory.

First Half

• The two teams struggled to find any momentum offensively in the early stages of the game. BJ Brown's layup at the 16:49 mark gave Huntingdon a 9-7 advantage, but the Flames answered with a triple just a minute later to claim a 13-12 lead of their own
• The Hawks looked to climb back into things, with Myles Murphy and BJ Brown combining on three consecutive triples to put Huntingdon back in front 21-19 at the 13:40 mark. Nonetheless, Welch continued to respond, hitting a three-pointer of their own on the other end to quickly go back in front 22-21
• Driven by hot shooting from behind-the-arc, Welch pieced together a 12-0 run to extend their lead to 34-23 with 7 and a half minutes remaining in the half
• Continuing to battle, the Hawks put together a 14-2 run of their own, with baskets from Murphy, Brown, and Eric Moore evening the score at 39 with 2:36 to go until halftime
• The Flames hit another shot from deep inside the final minute to hold a 42-39 lead heading into halftime

Second Half

• Led by Jaylen Washington, Nate Johns, and BJ Brown, the Hawks opened the second half with a 6-0 run to take a 45-42 lead early on
• Martise Jackson's triple at the 16:17 mark capped off a 9-2 Hawks run, pushing the lead to 53-44
• A separate 10-2 Hawks run, featuring baskets from Randall Davis and Jaylon Stevenson, gave Huntingdon a double-digit lead, 63-50 by the 12 minute mark
• Another Welch three-pointer at the 7:51 mark cut the Hawks lead to 68-59
• Tate Goolesby's layup at the 4:29 mark pushed Huntingdon's lead to 80-61
• The Hawks continued to pour it on, with Myles Johnson's layup inside the final minute putting a stamp on Huntingdon's 90-67 victory.

Key Notes

• Huntingdon outrebounded Welch 60-43
• 58 of the Hawks points came from the painted area
• Trailing by as much as 12 points in the first half, Huntingdon's 23 point victory marks a 35 point swing

Hawk Top Performers

• #3 Nate Johns- 13 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists
• #4 BJ Brown- 28 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
• #10 Myles Murphy- 12 points, 6 rebounds

The Hawks return to action on February 4th, hosting the Belhaven Blazers. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM CT.