ROME- The Shorter Hawks never trailed in their 66-49 victory against Erskine Tuesday night, smothering the Fleet's offense.

The Hawks were dominant from the jump, going on a 10-1 run to begin the contest. The visitors crawled back into the game, knocking down a triple at the 8:18 mark in the first half to make it a 19-14 score. Shorter responded well, as freshman Jalien Bush stepped up for the Hawks, knocking down shot-after-shot to put the Hawks in the drivers seat for the remainder of the period. Chris Bibbs ended the half with an exclamation mark, drilling a buzzer-beater from near half court to give the Hawks the 38-25 lead into the break. 

Donovan Shangase continued the Hawks dominance, scoring their first eight points of the second half to put Shorter in front 47-26. The Hawks did not let up as the offense kept flowing, while their defense shined, forcing the Fleet to commit multiple turnovers and struggle from the field. Shorter cruised the rest of the way, despite their offense getting cold, as they gave up just nine points in the final nine minutes. Shorter ended the game with a defensively charged 66-49 victory. 

Chris Bibbs led all scorers with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Ja'Myas Davis followed with 15 points on an impressive 7-of-10 from the charity stripe as Shangase finished with 12 points. The Hawks smothered Erskine, forcing them to go 19-of-62 (30.6%) from the field and 3-of-30 (10%) from three. The Hawks pulled down a season-high 43 rebounds to the visitors 26 to add on to the damage. 

"I am thankful that our guys were able to come out and compete so hard tonight", said Head Coach Wade Anderson. "We had a few guys step up and make big shots. Jalien Bush had a really good shooting night for us. The way that we defended tonight gives me excitement because I am glad that we can sit down and defend even on nights when our shots aren't falling. We just have to continue to get better each time we go out". 

UP NEXT

The Hawks will travel this Saturday to South Carolina to face off against North Greenville at 4:00 PM. 

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