The Shorter Hawks defeated the Lee Flames, 79-73, on a night where seniors Matt Catanzano and Trevor McDade both received recognition for their contributions to the Hawks basketball program.
Four players scored in double figures for Shorter, led by Phil Taylor and Alijah Bennett who each had 18.
Bennett had the hot hand for the Hawks in the first half, scoring 12 points on 5 of 11 shooting. He gave his squad a 13-8 lead less than five minutes into the game by nailing a corner three.
Down five, Lee (10-18, 7-15) answered to take a 14-13 lead, but Bennett kept up his hot shooting, allowing SU to retake the lead. In all, the lead changed hands a total of six times in the opening half. The Hawks led by as many as 10, 34-24, when Chris Daniels hit two shots from the free throw line, but the Flames battled back. Lee quickly erased the majority of Shorter's lead thanks to the outstanding play of Keevan Tyus. Tyus shot 5 of 6 from the field in the first half, scoring 10 points. He pulled his team to within one point multiple times, but a layup by Chris Daniels with 1:31 remaining until the intermission gave the Hawks a three-point lead. Catanzano hit a clutch 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in the half, sending Shorter (14-14, 9-13) to the locker room up six, 45-39, after Lee's buzzer beater was declared no good.
The Hawks opened the second half on a 10-5 run to take a 55-44 lead. Daniels contributed six points to the run, while Bennett and Trevor McDade each added two. The Flames managed to cut the Shorter lead to five, but a layup by McDade pushed the lead back to seven at the under 12 media timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Tyus scored seven straight points for the Flames, tying the game at 60 and forcing a Hawks timeout.
A three by Phil Taylor, followed by a McDade layup gave Shorter a 65-60 lead with 8:48 remaining. Minutes later, Lee's Levi Wood connected from beyond the arc to even the score at 65, but Phil Taylor's and-1 gave the Hawks a 68-65 advantage. Cole Birchfield's 3-pointer pushed Shorter's lead to six with 5:41 left. The Hawks led by as many as eight late in the contest, but the visitors put together a late run, pulling within four with under a minute to go. Free throws by Birchfield and McDade sealed the deal and when the final buzzer sounded, Shorter was victorious, 79-73.
Taylor and Bennett had 18 points apiece for the Hawks, while Daniels added 17 and Birchfield 11.
Since Shorter defeated Lee and West Georgia best West Alabama, the Hawks clinched the #8 seed for the Gulf South Conference tournament. Shorter will travel to Alabama Huntsville on Tuesday, March 1st. Tipoff time will be announced later.
