The 2024-2025 Rockhurst basketball season began with a convincing 68-43 win on Dec. 3 at Titan Fieldhouse. Senior forward Callen Eskew went for 20 points and five rebounds, while sophomore backup Kemper Roberts contributed 16 points of his own.
The game began with fireworks from both teams. Off the opening tip-off, Lee’s Summit West got behind the Hawklets and fired up the sparse home crowd with an emphatic dunk. The Hawklets responded with a three from junior guard Cohen Robinson.
After those two possessions, both teams played sloppily in the first half. Turnovers and missed free throws became a theme that plagued both teams throughout the game. The Hawklets ended up shooting an unsightly 6-14 from the free throw stripe. Lee’s Summit West didn’t do much better, going 4-13.
“That’s not not something to worry about,” junior guard Max Moylan said when asked about the Hawklets’ free throw shooting. “First game… just settling in… We’ll be good as we go along.”
The messy first half ended with a 28-23 Rockhurst lead.
However, in the third quarter, the Hawklets exploded. Rockhurst outscored Lee’s Summit West 21-8, with almost all of the Hawklets’ points coming in the paint. The Hawklets fed the 6-7 Eskew and 6-5 Roberts inside, feasting on a size mismatch between the two teams.
By the start of the fourth quarter, the Hawklets led 49-31.
With the game winding down and Rockhurst leading 64-39, some of the Rockhurst students who made the trip to Lee’s Summit West chanted for freshman Elijah Curtis. With 2:12 left in the blowout, Curtis made his debut in his first varsity game for the Hawklets. Curtis’s first points of his career came on a layup within the final two minutes of the game.
As the final buzzer sounded, the Hawklets secured their first win of the season, 68-43.
Ultimately, while the Hawklets didn’t look the best in their season debut, they put together a strong win versus a Lee’s Summit West team they split two meetings with last season. The Hawklets next matchup will be at Lee’s Summit on Friday.
