BELMONT, N.C.- After a strong second half, the Shorter Hawks earned their first road win of the season in an 80-69 victory over Belmont Abbey Wednesday night at the Wheeler Center.
The Hawks battled with the Crusaders early on, with Belmont Abbey taking the 14-9 advantage. The Hawks responded with an 11-0 run to regain the lead as well as their momentum. Shorter continued to balance the lead with strong performances in the first half by
Donovan Shangase and
Chris Bibbs that propelled them to a 32-30 lead as they entered the break.
The Hawks set the tone for the second half, as
Ja'Myas Davis and
Jalien Bush connected on back-to-back threes to give Shorter a 38-30 lead. After a push from the Crusaders that nodded things up at 48, the Hawks' offense found their groove going on a 17-4 run that put them in the driver's seat. Shorter continued to control the narrative as the game moved forward, and did not look back as they took home the 80-69 victory. The Hawks were unconscious from the field in the second half, shooting 17-of-27( 62.9%) from the field, six-of-ten (60%) from three, and a perfect eight-for-eight from the line.
The Hawks had four in double-figures with
Chris Bibbs leading the charge with 23 points on 8-of-12 (66%) shooting and nine rebounds.
Donovan Shangase finished with 17 points and eight assists as
Ja'Myas Davis added 16 points. Freshman
Jalien Bush rounded out the Hawks' scoring efforts with an efficient 13 points on 5-of-8 (62.5%) shooting.
"I was happy to see us work so hard on the defensive end today", said Head Coach
Wade Anderson. "We stepped up and got stops when we needed and JD Davis and Jaelin Bush stepped up and hit huge shots in the second half with
Donovan Shangase doing a great job of seeing the floor to help with our offensive output".
UP NEXT
Shorter will look to close out their road stretch as they travel to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on Converse this Friday at 4:00 PM.
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