Flurries Bury Generals as Hawks Win by 17

      As it was the theme of this weekend, with snow flurries throughout the past few days, this rivalry between the Hawks and the Generals saw a fair amount of flurries on the court as well. After it was all said and done, the Hawks emerged victorious with a 17 point victory, but the game had much more intrigue than that. The Hawks, who have always struggled here at W&L, were looking to continue their strong push into the Liberty Conference tournament, having won 5 straight conference games. The Generals, though not as strong as they have been, were looking for their 4^th conference victory, and were playing on senior day.

     The game started out with flurries of scoring. The Hawks jumped out to a quick 4 point lead, only to see the Generals reel off 8 of the next 11 points. The Hawks then launched the first of the three major flurries, which ultimately decided the contest. Trailing by 3, the Hawks scored 13 of the next 14 points with PG Tyler Thornton (8pts, 2rebs, 3asts, 3stls) leading the way. Thornton hit one of his two 3pt FG’s from the left corner, and added a tough floater from the right block. The Hawks closed the quarter up by 9 (21-12). With the threat of the Hawks running away, the Generals used their size inside, and pounded the offensive glass during the 2^nd quarter, to whittle the lead down to 7 at the half. If not for the play of C Eliet Donley (19pts, 8rebs, 3asts, 2stls), the lead may have been less. Donley scored 7 of his 19 in the second quarter, to help keep the Hawks in the lead.

      In the third, the Hawks began the second of their three major flurries. The Hawks deployed their press, swiping the ball from the Generals on three straight possessions, which led to three Hawks baskets (7pts), and a

45 – 31 lead. The main antagonist was SG Phil Guydon (14pts, 2asts, and 3stls), whose relentless defense is led to three steals during this run, with Guydon scoring 4 of the first 7 points, en route to 6 points in the quarter. The Generals were not going away however, as they continued to chip away at the Hawks lead. In the 4^th, the Generals made their final push, and seemed to score on the Hawks at will. In the first 2 minutes of the quarter, the Hawks seemed flustered with the Generals ¾ court press. It was then, that the Hawks reached down deep, and brought forth their final flurry of action. SF Amir Atkins (20pts, 8rebs, 2asts, 2stls) led the charge to victory, as the Hawks only missed 2 field goals in the final 6 minutes. Atkins scored on two straight possessions, helping the Hawks soar back up by 16 points and the victory.

    At that point, the Hawks brought in their reserves, including SF Muharrim Haque (2pts, 1reb, 2dflcts), who kept up the pressure, and calmly converted both of his FT’s, as the Hawks shot 7 for 9 in the quarter. Also entering in the waning minutes, recent call-up, PF Jeremy Jones (2pts) received a sweet dish from PG Kyle Phox (2asts) to score his first varsity points of the season. Rounding out the day, SF Kelsey McCrimmon (3pts, 1reb) was the benefactor of Phox’s other helper, converting an “and one” to push the final tally to 81, a season high.