KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Quincy University men's basketball team got back in action on Wednesday (Jan. 6) against the Hawks of Rockhurst University. Coming off a 4-1 stretch to close out 2023 followed by a 17 day break for the holidays, QU was unable to continue it's form into the first game of 2024, dropping the GLVC conference match-up to the Hawks 80-66.

Zion Richardson knocked down his first jumper of the contest for two of his game-leading 22 points to open the scoring. Buckets from John Kelly III and Nate Shockey gave QU its final lead of the half 6-5 at the 15:29 mark. 

Quincy remained firmly within striking distance for the remainder of the first frame, spending the majority of the half within a possession of RU and never trailing by more than eight points. A last-second lay in from Jake Hamilton trimmed the deficit to 37-33 after the first 20 minutes of play. 

QU busted out a 7-2 run to open the second half and claim its first lead of the contest since early in the first half on another jumper from Richardson to make it 40-39 at the 17:43 mark of the second. The lead was a short-lived one though, as RU answered with a nine-point run to regain the lead for good. 

Later in the half with around eight minutes remaining Rockhurst clung to a 56-52 edge before busting the game wide open, going on a 16-3 run in about four minutes to lead it 72-55 after the final media timeout. The Hawks of RU went on to close out an 80-66 winner over Quincy. 

Richardson finished a rebound shy of back-to-back 20 point double-doubles, grabbing nine boards with two steals and an assist along with the game-high 22 points. Joining Richardson in double figures was Shockey with 14 and Isaiah Foster with 11. 

The Hawks came away with a +1 advantage in the rebounding margin along with a +2 clip in steals and 14 turnovers to match their opponents total. In addition, QU out-shot RU 42% (26-61) to 40% (23-57) in total field goals, with the real difference maker coming from behind the arc that saw Rockhurst chuck up 38 three-pointers, hitting on 13 of them for over half of the teams field goals in the entirety of the contest. 

Aside from the three-point barrage, RU made the most of its free chances converting at over 80% (21-26) from the free throw line while the early-season woes from the charity stripe returned for the Hawks, who were only able to knock down 11-18 for a 61% clip. 

Next up the Hawks return to the nest for a little home cooking in Pepsi Arena. Quincy kicks off a three-game GLVC home-stand with a Saturday afternoon (Jan. 6) showdown with the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist University. Tip-off for the contest is slated for 3:00 PM.