WEST POINT, Ga. – The Thomas Night Hawks notched their second SSAC win in a row with a victory over the Point University Skyhawks on Thursday night.
Thomas jumped out to a lead early, Thanks to a layup and a pair of free throws from Je'Hvonni Hogan, Point did answer with a three to cut the advantage to one, but Jonathan Goldson knocked down a three of his own to go up by four, later he hit a second three and a layup from Michael Smith gave the Night Hawks a 10-3 lead.
However, a couple of jumpers from the Skyhawks cut the lead to five, but Thomas responded with a layup from Teny Gakdeng and a dunk from Hogan. Point did make a three, but Shane Payne answered right back with a triple, and then Armani Thomas made a layup to put the Night Hawks up by double-digits.
Later in the half, the Skyhawks brought it to a two-possession game, until a midrange shot from Smith, a three from Ryan Williams and a layup from Goldson put Thomas up 11.
With 51 seconds to go, a free throw from Point made it a seven-point lead for the Night Hawks, but then Goldson knocked down a layup with four seconds to go to the half with a nine-point cushion.
The Skyhawks came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders; ripping off an 11-3 run in the first three minutes of the half. With their lead trimmed down to one, Goldson made a free throw to make it a two-point game, but a jumper from Point tied the game at 50 with 16:06 to go.
Unfortunately, both teams went into a cold snap for the couple of minutes as shots failed to fall for either team. Then a tip-in from Hogan gave the Night Hawks the advantage. Until a pair of free throws tied the game again. From there, the teams went shot-for-shot, as the game tied four more times after that.
Finally, Thomas managed to put together a quick 5-0 run, to hold a 65-60 lead with 6:11 to go. The Skyhawks did pull within two after a perfect three-for-three trip to the foul line. But a pair of layups from Gakdeng brought the lead back to six.
After a three made it a one-point game, Point took the lead following a couple of free throws. Goldson then hit a free throw to tie the game and later made another free throw to go back out in front with 2:41 left.
However, soon the Skyhawks took back the lead with a layup, but Armani Thomas muscled his way into the lane and made a layup to regain the advantage with 2:09 to go.
Then Gakdeng was fouled and headed to the line, knocking down both free throws to put the Night Hawks up by three with 1:23 on the clock. Point tried to answer with a three, but Payne came through with a block.
Later, Goldson got fouled and made both of his attempts to increase the lead to five. However, the Skyhawks hit paydirt with a three to cut the lead to two; next Gakdeng was fouled, sending him to the line with 27 seconds left. With ice in his veins, the Stone Mountain native made both shots. Point tried from deep again, but it would not fall, and Goldson put the game away with another free throw for an 80-75 win.
Goldson paced the offense for Thomas, posting 19 points, going 7-10 from the charity stripe along with nine rebounds, two steals and a block.
Gakdeng, a transfer from Coastal Georgia put up 14 points and four rebounds, going 5-7 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line in his Night Hawks debut.
Finally, Hogan and Thomas round out the scoring for the Night Hawks as both finished with 12 points respectively.
Thomas will go on the road again as they take on Brewton-Parker on Saturday, January 10th at 2:00p.m.
