Hawks Upset Bid Comes Up Short In Conference Opener Against #25 Maryville

MONTGOMERY, Ala.- Simultaneously opening the 2026 calendar year and CCS action tonight, Huntingdon Men's Basketball battled with Maryville College inside of Roland Arena. The Hawks jumped out to a fast start, taking a 40-37 lead into halftime over the #25 ranked team in the nation, but couldn't complete their upset in the second half, falling 101-86. 

First Half

The Hawks natonally ranked opponent flew out of the gates in the first minutes of the game, capturing a 14-6 advantage through the opening four and a half minutes of action. In response, Huntingdon fired off a 10-2 run, highlighted by Tyler Mallory's two triples while also seeing contributions from Andersen Madyun and Eric Moore to even things at 16 by the 12:10 mark in the half. Mallory's hot shooting continued, as he sank two more shots from deep to set up Marcus Townsend with a layup that handed the Hawks their first lead of the contest, 23-21, with 9:46 to go. Jeremy Autin, Myles Johnson, and Skyler Stovall joined in on the scoring shortly after to extend the Huntingdon lead to as much as 11, 33-22, but Maryville found an answer approaching the final two minutes of the half. The Scots opened up a run of their own to cut the deficit to 38-37 before Autin and Myles Murphy each converted at the line to keep the Hawks in control at the break. 

Second Half

Coming out for the second half, the Scots caught fire, piecing together a 15-7 run through the first four minutes to gather a 53-47 advantage. Mallory and Townsend each followed with baskets of their own to even things up at 53 by the 15:29 mark, but Maryville continued to answer. As the teams navigated the half trading baskets and stops, the breaking point came at the 13:50 mark. Tyler Mallory hit yet again from down town to keep Huntingdon within one, 58-57, but the Scots followed up with a massive 14-2 run through the next three minutes to extend their lead to 72-59, and despite a Huntingdon scoring effort that generated 46 second half points, the Hawks couldn't keep pace, falling 101-86. 

Hawk Top Performers

• #2 Marcus Townsend- 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block
• #14 Owen LaRocca- 18 points, 4/9 from three
• #24 Tyler Mallory- 35 points, 5 assists, 5 steals, 2 rebounds

The Hawks have an opportunity to bounce back at home tomorrow, January 3rd, as they play host to Covenant College. Tip-off is set for 4:00 PM CT.