Down to the last detail: Hawks adapt, adjust and improve in winning home opener against Trojans

QUINCY — Malik Hardmon has listened to the Quincy University men’s basketball coaching staff harp on being detail oriented so often the words and phrases being uttered have slipped into his subconscious.

“I wake up and in my dream I’ve heard, ‘Details, details, details,’” the senior forward said with a grin.

He and the Hawks understand why.

Coming off a pair of narrow losses the opening weekend of the season, the Hawks needed to fix some of their miscues. Albeit far from a perfect effort, Wednesday night’s 88-51 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange University at Pepsi Arena showcased their ability to make adjustments and improve.

“The emphasis was details, work on our details,” Hardmon said. “That was definitely the big emphasis, the little stuff that probably lost us those two games. Let’s correct that now.”

In doing so, the Hawks (1-2) set the proper tone for the home slate.

They intend to be aggressive offensively, challenge shooters defensively and stay active on the boards. Getting to the free-throw line 19 times, limiting the Trojans to 35.3-percent shooting from the field and hauling in 15 offensive rebounds accomplished that.

“Just move,” junior guard Zion Richardson said. “That’s what we want to do, just move. We came in here like we were 0-0 and this was just another game. It’s about playing our brand of basketball, which we did and we got the win.”

That brand involves staying disciplined.

“Coaches harp on defend, rebound and run,” Richardson said after the Hawks limited the Trojans to five offensive rebounds and just two second-chance points. “We did a really good job of coming together and paying attention to the details and executing.”

That was the case out of the gate. Quincy scored the game’s first 12 points and held HLGU scoreless for more than four minutes. A strong start isn’t uncommon as the Hawks have led at the first media timeout in two of their three games and the exhibition game at the University of Illinois.

“I was more worried about what was going to happen later,” QU coach Steve Hawkins said. “How we lost games came later. It wasn’t the beginning. It wasn’t the start. There are moments where we lose concentration. That’s what I was more worried about.”

Although there were some lulls, the Hawks found a way to re-engage, even when shots weren’t falling at a high percentage.

In the first two regular-season games, Quincy shot 46.8 percent from 3-point range. Against HLGU, the Hawks went 3 of 14 from beyond the arc in the first half and finished shooting 31.3 percent from the perimeter.

But they found other ways to score, turning 15 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points and making 16 of 19 free throws.

Better yet, the Hawks stayed engaged defensively, forcing 23 turnovers and holding the Trojans to 8-of-23 shooting from 3-point range. Janssen Flotow scored 18 points for HLGU, but he didn’t have a rebound or an assist.

“We were missing shots, open shots,” Hawkins said. “But I thought the guys did a pretty good job of not letting that affect the defensive end of the floor.”

Hardmon led the Hawks with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Richardson scored 13 points and made all three of his 3-point attempts in his season debut. Overall, 13 different Hawks scored and no one played more than 23 minutes.

That was vital since this weekend’s trip to Pittsburg, Kan., for the Pitt State Thanksgiving Classic means Quincy will play five games in the season’s first nine days.

“We needed to get a win in the book,” Hardmon said. “Coming off two tough losses, we needed to release, get ourselves together and get this win. Just build from here. That’s it. Just build from here.”

The next step is progress.

“It’s definitely about progress,” Hardmon said. “It’s about staying the course. There’s going to be ups and downs, rocky roads. It’s about seeing the end goal. We were very confident. Even after the two losses, we were still in good spirits because we knew we could play.”

Hawkins saw that Wednesday night.

“There’s a huge difference between winning and playing well, and tonight I thought there were prolonged spots where we played well,” Hawkins said. “We were more organized with what it was we were trying to do and where we were supposed to be in our looks and our reads and all that stuff.”