Men's Basketball Overcomes Slow Start To Take Down LaGrange

MONTGOMERY, Ala.- Looking to build off of their 96-74 victory at Piedmont from last weekend, Huntingdon Men's Basketball stumbled out of the gates in tonight's battle with LaGrange, but overcame their slow start with a strong second half to pull out a 81-74 victory. 

Prior to the start of tonight's contest, Huntingdon recognized Tyler Mallory for surpassing the 1,000 point scoring mark in his collegiate career.  A Junior from Greenville, Alabama, Tyler began his career at Reid State Technical College, where he averaged 14.5 points per game in his two years for the Lions. So far this season, Tyler is leading the Hawks with 19.6 points per game, including two games where he scored more than 30 and 8 games where he scored more than 20.

First Half

Neither side could come close to finding their footing in the early parts of the game, as LaGrange held on to a 12-7 lead just inside of 10 minutes played with 9:34 remaining in the half. In the latter stages of the half however, Huntingdon's offense began to find life, as Eric Moore and Skyler Stovall brought a spark off the bench to generate some rhythm offensively. In spite of this howver, LaGrange maintained a seven point lead at 23-16 entering the final four minutes of the half. Coming out of the final media timeout, Tyler Mallory sank a shot from deep, and the tides began to turn. Another basket from Mallory made way for Myles Murphy to even things up at 23 with 3 minutes to go in the half before Andersen Madyun and Mallory each converted yet again to give Huntingdon a 26-25 lead by the 1:28 mark. Not to be outdone however, the Panthers closed the half on a 8-2 run to take a 33-28 lead into the break. 

Second Half

More of the same continued in the early parts of the second half, as the two sides traded baskets and stops through the opening four minutes. With Huntingdon facing a 42-38 deficit approaching the 15 minute mark, a nearly 2 minute long scoring hiatus for both sides allowed for the Hawks to draw within one, 47-46, following baskets from Stovall and Jeremy Autin. LaGrange answered however, extending their advantage back to six, 52-46 by the midway point in the half, but the Hawks continued to scrap away at the lead. 3 points courtsey of Tyler Mallory allowed for a Myles Murphy to drain a corner three that knotted things up at 54 with 8:32 remaining, and Mallory followed Murphy with another three on the ensuing possession to give the Hawks a 57-55 lead. Per the tale of the game however, LaGrange followed with another run to go back ahead 61-57 with 6:52 to go. Their lead proved to be short-lived however, as a 8-1 Hawks run put Huntingdon back in the lead 65-62, and they never looked back. Holding onto a 70-66 advantage with 2:34 remaining, a layup from Murphy sparked a 8-0 run that grew the Huntingdon lead to as much as 14, 80-66, and despite a last second effort from the Panthers to get back into it, the Hawks prevailed in the conference matchup 81-74. 

Hawk Top Performers

• #10 Myles Murphy- 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
• #24 Tyler Mallory- 32 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
• #42 Andersen Madyun- 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks
• #20 Skyler Stovall- 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal

The Hawks will look to keep rolling as they hit the road to take on Asbury University this Saturday, January 17th. Tip-off is set for 3:00 PM CT.