BLUE MOUNTAIN– The Thomas Night Hawks earned a road win over the Blue Mountain Christian Toppers on Thursday night.
The Night Hawks found themselves behind the eight ball early as they fell behind by four to start out the game. Then a three from Shane Payne sparked a 14-5 run which put Thomas ahead by five with 11:28 to go.
Later, a jumper from Payne and a dunk from Je'Hvonni Hogan increased the lead to nine. However, the Toppers kept in step with the Night Hawks, not letting the lead get too far out of hand.
Up by six with 4:57 left, Hogan hit a free throw and added another dunk to bring the lead back to nine, then just as it seemed the momentum shifted to Blue Mountain, Payne knocked down a three to give Thomas a double-digit lead. Later, Payne hit another three to go up by 14.
Before the half ended, Ryan Williams passed it over to Payne, who buried a three from the corner as time expired to carry a 13-point lead into the locker room.
Thomas started the second half hot, as they went on an 11-3 run, spearheaded by a layup from Teny Gakdeng. The Night Hawks held a 23-point lead with 14:18 to go. However, the Toppers began to cut into the lead, ripping off a 17-0 run to pull within six with 11:02 left.
After a timeout to cool off the Blue Mountain run, the Night Hawks began to attack the inside, drawing fouls and making shots from the charity stripe to keep the Toppers at bay.
Later in the half, Thomas brought the lead back to 10 following a dunk from Hogan. Unfortunately, Blue Mountain continued to rally, cutting the lead down to four with 4:27 left. However, the Night Hawks answered with a layup from Gakdeng and then another three from Payne to go up nine.
Down the stretch, Thomas held off the Toppers as a pair of free throws from Gakdeng and stellar defense in the final minutes of play sealed the victory for the Night Hawks.
Payne finished with a career-high 31 points, going 9-14 from three with three rebounds, three steals and two assists. Gakdeng ended with 16 points, seven boards and two blocks.
Jonathan Goldson posted 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal, while Nhine Wills put up 10 points and three rebounds. Finally, Hogan had nine points, 13 rebounds and three steals.
Payne's nine threes are the second most made in a game in the modern era of the program.
"Felt great to get the win, road wins are always tough in this league," Head Coach Colin Cotter said. "Shane had a heck of a game! You could tell early he was shooting the ball with a lot of confidence. He and the rest of our guys did a great job of finding him open looks."
The Night Hawks will end their two-game road trip against UT Southern on Friday, Jan. 23 at 2:00 p.m. CST / 3:00 p.m. EST
