Jackson Catches Fire Late As Huntingdon Defeats LaGrange In CCS Opener

MONTGOMERY, Ala.- Coming off a neutral site victory over Luther, Huntingdon opened up CCS play in 2025 by hosting LaGrange. In a game of runs, Martise Jackson went a perfect 3/3 from behind the arc in the second half to ice the game and give the 11-2 Hawks their first conference victory of the season over the 4-9 Panthers.

First Half

• Trading baskets and stops through the opening possessions of the matchup, BJ Brown sank a shot from deep at the 17:03 mark to give the Hawks their first solid lead of the game, 10-5
• Martise Jackson followed back-to-back baskets from Nate Johns with his first triple of the game to push the Hawks advantage to 17-8 by the 14:56 mark
• A short jumper from Jeremy Autin gave Huntingdon their first double-digit lead of the game on the following possession, 19-8
• Not to be outdone, a 10-1 Panther run brough LaGrange within two, 20-18 by the 12:05 mark
• Tate Goolesby stopped the bleeding with a three pointer at the 9:13 mark, pushing Huntingdon's lead to 28-24
• LaGrange continued to claw at the Hawks lead, but a 7-1 Huntingdon run featuring baskets from RayQuan Taylor, Nate Johns, and Keyshawn Dickey brought Huntingdon's lead to 35-28 entering the final three and-a-half minutes of the first half
• Taylor put five more points on the board to give Huntingdon a 42-35 halftime lead

Second Half

• Opening the half with an alley-oop connection from BJ Brown to RayQuan Taylor, the Hawks found themselves in front 50-38 by the 16:07 mark
• Trading baskets and stops for nearly three minutes, DaQuan Hawkins hit two consecutive triples to raise the Hawks lead to 61-46 with 12:31 to go
• LaGrange followed a pair of free throws from Tate Goolesby with a 16-2 run across the span of five minutes to cut Huntingdon's lead to 65-62 with 6:59 remaining
• Huntingdon answered with a 12-2 run of their own, featuring three triples from Martise Jackson, to extend their lead back to double-digits, 77-64
• Leading 79-70 with 2:20 to go in regulation, the Hawks remained solid on defense, icing the game with a layup from Jackson to walk away with the victory, 82-73

Key Notes

• The Hawks benefitted from a hot shooting night, hitting on 44% of shots from the field and 45% from three
• Huntingdon's rhythm came from all over, with 10 Hawks putting points on the board off of 18 assists

Hawk Top Performers

• #4 BJ Brown- 11 points, 13 assists, 4 rebounds
• #11 Martise Jackson- 17 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
• #33 RayQuan Taylor- 17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block

The Hawks look to carry their momentum into a road contest with Piedmont on January 10th. Tip-off is set for 6:00 PM CT.