‘Just get one’: Richardson powers Hawks past Flyers as six-game skid comes to end

QUINCY — After six consecutive losses, the Quincy University men’s basketball team would have settled for any kind of victory.

Registering a “team” win proved to be especially satisfying.

Zion Richardson scored 22 of his game-high 25 points in the second half and the Hawks received valuable contributions from all 10 players who saw action Saturday afternoon to rally from a 15-point deficit to beat Lewis University 82-69 at Pepsi Arena.

On the verge of being blown out late in the first half, QU showed its resiliency by closing within nine at halftime before scoring 17 consecutive points during a six-minute stretch early in the second half to grab a 50-43 lead it never relinquished.

For Richardson, who was limited to just three free throws in the opening half, the first victory in 23 days was both a joy and a relief.

“Just get one,” the senior guard said. “We’re young and we haven’t won a lot of games this year, but we needed to keep our composure, stay patient and keep pushing. We wanted to own being tough, and we did that.”

Lewis led 35-20 with 5:39 remaining in the first half as QU could not get shots to fall offensively and were unable to contain the Flyers’ transition game. But the Hawks’ defense clamped down and freshman Jake Hamilton hit a free throw, worked free inside for a bucket and then drained a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Trailing 38-29 with under 10 seconds to go, Nate Shockey tried to thread a pass to John Kelly III in the lane and it was picked off, prompting coach Steve Hawkins to slap the palms of both hands on the scorer’s table and walk past his bench and into the tunnel heading toward the locker room as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

“There was nothing I could do in the final eight seconds, so I thought I’d get an early start on my speech at halftime,” Hawkins said.

“We had not played great offensively as it was. We couldn’t get anything going. What bothered me was we had the last shot and weren’t aware of the clock and tried to push it. It was a mental error. The last thing we wanted to do was give them the last possession.”

Lewis failed to convert, however, and a QU team with a different mindset showed up in the second half.

The Hawks shut down the Flyers’ transition game that had led to so many easy baskets in the opening half. They were physical in the paint and on the perimeter, contesting nearly every shot and limiting second-chance opportunities. Lewis managed just four field goals in the opening 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, Richardson finally found his rhythm, hitting his first two shots, and his teammates followed suit. Hamilton and Kelly provided important points during the surge that carried QU to the lead.

“We were able to get Zion loose on some action and he took it over from there,” Hawkins said. “And the guys felt it.”

Richardson powered his way through the lane for a layup and free throw to give QU its first lead since early in the first half at 45-43 with 13:55 to go. After Orlando Thomas drove the lane for a layup, Richardson hit a step-back 3-pointer to finish off the 17-0 run.

With starting point guard Isaiah Foster in foul trouble, picking up his fourth 28 seconds into the second half, Thomas stepped in to steady the ship.

“Orlando came up huge,” Richardson said. “That’s the perfect example of you never know when your number is gonna be called. He didn’t even play in the last game (Thursday against Indianapolis) and he’s been getting limited minutes the last couple of games.”

Cem Kirciman finally ended a six-minute scoring drought with an inside bucket for Lewis, and guard Gary Solomon drove the lane for a conventional three-point play to pull the Flyers within 50-48.

But Thomas answered with a driving layup through traffic and Richardson stepped behind a screen to nail a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 55-48. Lewis never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Hawks, who shot 50 percent from the field in the second half, pushed the advantage to as high as 14 before hitting 10 of 14 free throws down the stretch to improve to 11-14 overall and 6-11 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with three games remaining.

“You saw a team in the first half that looked like it had lost six in a row,” Hawkins said. “We weren’t confident. We were timid. We weren’t the aggressor.

“And then in the first four minutes of the second half, we kind of got our footing and everybody picked it up from there. We looked like the team we know we can be.”

Hamilton hit three clutch 3-pointers and finished with 14 points for QU. Kelly, another freshman inserted into the starting lineup, added 11 points and six rebounds, and center Mason Wujek, a sophomore, had 10 points.

Forward Ibrahim Drame came off the bench to provide valuable minutes inside, scoring seven points and grabbing five rebounds. Shockey scored only two points, but he had a team-leading eight rebounds and six assists and came up with four steals.

The Hawks finished with a 48-33 rebounding edge, including 15 on the offensive end. The game featured a combined 50 fouls and 65 free throws attempted.

Beau Frericks led Lewis (13-11, 9-7), which entered on a two-game win streak and in a three-way tie for third place in the GLVC, with 20 points. But the sharp-shooting guard was held relatively in check after repeatedly scoring off the break during the opening 22 minutes.

“I know it’s a cliché, but we needed a team win,” Hawkins said. “We weren’t as aggressive as we could be for 40 minutes, but we never broke in the first half and that allowed us to stay in there.

“With the streak being over, we can just concentrate on preparation without that monkey on our back.”