ROME, Ga. – The Auburn University at Montgomery Warhawks men's basketball team (1-2) came up just short in its first road game of the 2025-26 season, dropping a 78-76 decision at the Shorter University Hawks (1-2) Tuesday night at the Winthrop-King Centre.

AUM led by five points at halftime and was still in front, 75-72, with 2:07 to go, but Shorter rallied and took advantage of four missed free throws by the Warhawks in the final 1:18 to escape with its first win of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Marius Canery made a 3-pointer 1:07 into the game to give AUM (1-2) a 3-2 lead over the Hawks, but Shorter (1-2) went on a 9-3 run to take an 11-6 lead after an Axel Holmquist layup with 13:21 to go in the first half. Ti'Avian Scruggs drained a 3-pointer to get the Warhawks back to within two at 11-9 with 12:03 left and back-to-back Jamarious Martin jumpers pushed AUM ahead, 14-11, with 10:32 showing on the clock.

Shorter's Donovan Shangase drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 14, but Scruggs immediately replied with a trey of his own to keep AUM in front, 17-14, with 10:03 remaining before halftime. The teams spent the last 10 minutes of the half going back-and-forth, with AUM maintaining a small lead, but Shorter staying close to the Warhawks. AUM's biggest lead was five points, the final time coming at 40-35 after a 3-pointer by Max Ogbalet-Ndiaye with 3 seconds to go, sending the Warhawks into halftime with a five-point advantage.

AUM made 14 of its 35 shots (40 percent) in the first half, including 6-for-15 (40 percent) on 3-point shots. The Warhawks outrebounded Shorter, 17-15, and committed just two turnovers while forcing the Hawks into six turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. Martin led AUM with 10 points, followed by Scruggs with nine points and three rebounds and Canery chipped in seven for the Warhawks.

Meanwhile, Shorter went 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) from the field, making 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range. Chris Bibbs led the Hawks with 11 points and Ja'Myas Davis added 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Second Half
The Warhawks came out firing in the second half, pushing their lead to eight points on multiple occasions, the final time coming at 53-45 after a layup by Colby Williams with 14:44 to go. Shorter responded with five straight points to close to within 53-50 following a Holmquist layup with 13:14 left, prompting AUM to call a timeout. Following the timeout, Ogbalet-Ndiaye promptly nailed another 3-pointer to extend the Warhawks' lead to 56-50 with 13:00 remaining.

Shorter didn't go away, though, and a 3-pointer by Shangase got the Hawks to within 56-55 a minute later. However, the Warhawks responded with a 9-2 burst to go back up, 65-57, midway through the half. Shorter rallied again, and two free throws by Shangase made it 69-68 AUM with 5:07 still to go, as neither team backed down from the challenge.

The Hawks took a 70-69 lead on a layup by Davis with 4:13 remaining and the teams traded the lead back-and-forth three times over the next 56 seconds. AUM went up 75-72 after a Canery layup with 2:07 to go, but Jalien Bush drained a 3-pointer to re-tie the game at 75 with 1:49 remaining.

A pair of Shangase free throws gave Shorter a 77-75 lead with 58 seconds remaining, but following a foul on the Hawks, AUM only made one of its two free throws at the other end, making it 77-76 with 34 seconds left. Shorter got the rebound on the missed free throw, and Shangase made another free throw to put Shorter up, 78-76, with 13 seconds to go. The Warhawks were fouled and had a chance to tie the game at the charity stripe with nine seconds left, but a pair of missed free throws allowed Shorter to pull out the home win.

NOTABLES
- AUM finished the game 27-for-62 (43.5 percent) from the field, including 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range. The Warhawks were only 13-for-21 (61.9 percent) from the free-throw line, but did outrebound Shorter, 32-30, and AUM also won the turnover battle, forcing 12 turnovers while only turning the ball over nine times.

- Canery led AUM with 18 points and three assists, as the Warhawks had four players finish in double figures. Martin had 14 points and three assists, Colby Williams finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, and three steals, and Scruggs pitched in 11 points, four rebounds and two steals.

- Shorter shot 26-for-52 (50 percent) from the field, making 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from 3-point range and 20 of its 26 free throws (76.9 percent).

- The Hawks had a balanced scoring attack, with three players scoring 17 points apiece, another adding 13 and a fifth player chipping in nine. Bush had 17 points and seven rebounds, Bibbs had 17, seven rebounds and five assists, and Shangase had 17 points for Shorter. Davis just missed a double-double with 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Holmquist tossed in nine points and four rebounds.

UP NEXT
AUM is on the road again for its next game, as the Warhawks travel to Americus, Ga., to take on Georgia Southwestern (2-0) on Nov. 24. Tipoff at The Storm Dome is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Warhawk fans can tune into an online stream of the game at https://pbcsportsnetwork.com/gswcanes/.

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