Hawks stay composed in waning moments to earn road victory over Mules, extend win streak to three

WARRENSBURG, Mo. — Brad Hoyt isn’t naive enough to believe the Quincy University men’s basketball team will continue taking two steps forward without ever taking a step back.

The Hawks just have to continue taking those first two steps.

Thursday night, they navigated another one.

Quincy saw a 10-point lead dwindle to two in a three-minute span late in the second half before making just enough free throws and getting just enough stops to preserve a 68-65 victory over Central Missouri at the Hughes Athletics Center.

“Early in the season, you want to be in those moments,” said Hoyt, whose team is 3-2 in his first season as the QU coach and has won three consecutive games. “I told them after the game we have to get to a place where we expect to win those close game and not hope we win those close games.

“There’s a little stronger sense of that now. Figuring two of those one-possession games out in a week span is obviously a good thing. Our guys hung together, stayed connected and won in a really hard place to play.”

They did so without panicking.

A two-point halftime lead grew to 13 in the first eight minutes of the second half, only to have the Mules cap a 13-4 run by scoring on three straight possessions to pull within 51-47 with 8:30 remaining. The Hawks answered with seven straight points to push the lead back to double digits.

“We had a three or four-minute spell where we just breathed and stay composed,” Hoyt said.

It took a few minutes more.

The Mules pulled within 62-60 with 2:35 to play before coming up empty on three of their next four possessions. Central Missouri shot just 41.8 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from 3-point range, while scoring 

“(QU assistant coach Brendan) Gooch had a great scout,” Hoyt said. “He did a great job preparing our guys, so there weren’t a lot of surprises.”

Still, the Mules pulled within 66-65 with 21 seconds remaining when UCM’s Dearious Barker was fouled on a 3-point attempt at the top of the key and made all three free throws. The Hawks’ El Sieger and Jake Hamilton each split a pair of free throws in the final 15 seconds to hold onto the lead.

The Hawks shot just 42.1 percent from the line, going 6 of 15 in the second half. Sieger led the Hawks with 21 points, while Hamilton had 12 points and nine rebounds and Logan Robbins and Camren Kincaid had five assists apiece.

Quincy finished with 17 assists and just nine turnovers.

“That’s the right ratio for us,” Hoyt said.