Hawks unable to make plays down stretch in either half, fall in another tight contest

QUINCY — The Quincy University men’s basketball team needs to work on its closing kick.

It could take a lesson from Lindenwood.

The Lions trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half of Saturday’s Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Pepsi Arena, but outscored the Hawks 13-2 over the final 4 minutes, 27 seconds to get within 36-33 at halftime.

Then, with the Hawks leading by eight points with 7:30 to play in regulation, the Lions went on a 19-4 spurt to go up by seven with 1:15 to play. Quincy cut the deficit to one point twice in the final minute but could never retake the lead in being saddled with an 80-77 loss.

It’s the fourth time in the last six games the Hawks have lost by four or fewer points. And three of those have featured an opponent making more plays down the stretch.

In the 84-81 loss to Missouri Valley, the Hawks were outscored 8-3 in the final two minutes. Truman State outscored the Hawks 12-3 over the final six minutes to snare a 72-71 victory. And then came Saturday’s finish in which the Hawks went 4 of 16 from the field the final seven minutes.

The poor finish to each half derailed what had been a solid start.

Quincy (9-8, 2-5 GLVC) put together a 9-0 run to go up 17-8 with 11:24 remaining in the first half. The lead grew to 34-20 with less than five minutes to go in the half, but the Hawks went 1 of 5 from the field with four turnovers in the final four minutes.

Charlies Callier led the Hawks with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Jalen Stamps and Nate Shockey each had 13 points as five Hawks reached double figures. Romelo Burrell led the Lions (6-8, 2-4 GLVC) with 26 points and 10 rebounds.