Men's Basketball Stuns #2 Seeded Belhaven To Advance To The CCS Championship

MARYVILLE, Tenn.- Looking to advance to the Collegiate Conference of the South championship, Huntingdon men's basketball utilized a massive first half run to defeated the Belhaven Blazers 78-66 in the conference semi-finals.

The Hawks visit to the conference title game marks the first time they've qualified since the inception of the conference and the first time the program has seen a conference championship game since the 2019-2020 season.

How It Happened

The Blazers got out to an early 8-4 lead by the 17:26 mark, largely in part due to hot three-point shooting. Martise Jackson and BJ Brown put in back-to-back baskets on the ensuing possessions, but the Hawks still trailed 13-8 with 14 minutes remaining in the half. 

Huntingdon fell behind by as much as 9, 18-9 by the 11:23 mark, but responded with a massive 15-0 scoring run, seeing baskets from Brown, Jackson, and Johns as the Hawks held a 24-18 lead by the 7:36 mark. The Blazers put in a basket to stop the bleeding just a minute later, but Tate Goolesby kept the momentum rolling with a three pointer on the following possession. Johns followed another triple from Brown with a pair of free throws to give Huntingdon a 32-22 lead before Ray'Quan Taylor's tip-in brought the lead to 34-22 by the 3 minute mark. Three free throws from BJ Brown brought the half to a close with the Hawks in front 37-24.

Belhaven came out of the halftime break on fire, opening up a 8-0 run through the first three minutes to cut the Hawks lead to just five, 37-32. Jaylen Washington answered with five consecutive points to bring the Huntingdon lead back to double-digits by the 15:29 mark, 42-32.

The Blazers continued to claw at the Huntingdon lead as the second half wore on, but the Hawks still led by eight, 46-38, entering the final 13 minutes. BJ Brown then caught fire, hitting a shot from deep before finding Myles Murphy with a no-look pass for an and-one finish that extended the lead to 52-38. Belhaven pieced together another 8-0 run in response to bring the Hawks lead to 52-45, but Brown hit on two timely triples to stop the bleeding and restore Huntingdon's double digit lead, 58-45 with 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

Like clockwork, the Blazers scored 8 unanswered points to keep themselves within striking distance, cutting the Huntingdon lead to 58-53 with 8:25 to go. By the 7:22 mark, the Hawks held just a three-point advantage, 60-57. With 3:22 remaining in the game, Marcus Townsend answered a Belhaven three pointer with one of his own, bringing the Huntingdon lead to 69-62 entering the final stages. A Martise Jackson three pointer with 1:10 remaining put the game on ice, giving the Hawks a 76-66 lead before BJ Brown's floater gave Huntingdon a 78-66 win.

Hawk Top Performers

• #3 Nate Johns- 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block
• #4 BJ Brown- 31 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals
• #11 Martise Jackson- 14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals

The Hawks will face the winner of Maryville and Asbury in the CCS title game tomorrow, March 1st, at 2:00 PM CT in Maryville, Tennessee.