MURFREESBORO – The Chowan University Men's Basketball team earned its first CIAA victory of the 2010-2011 season Monday night by defeating Saint Paul's College 89-71. With the win, the Hawks improve to 2-17 overall (1-10 CIAA, 1-4 North). Following the loss, the Tigers fall to 6-11 overall (3-7 CIAA, 2-2 North).

 

Chowan came out of the gates firing, scoring the first six points of the game. Offensively, the Hawks were patient but opportunistic, as they looked to run the floor every chance they could. A Greg Alston three pointer at the 15:49 mark of the half gave the Hawks a 16-6 lead. Senior guard Charles Rhodes quickly followed with his second trey of the night to lift the Hawks to a 21-8 advantage.

 

The Tigers were quick to respond with two triples of their own to cut the lead down to five with 11:02 remaining. Mark McGlone ended that streak with an and-one to put Chowan back up by eight. With 7:54 remaining in the half, Quinton McDuffie found Mark Brown for a layup to extend the Hawk lead to 34-21. Shortly after, Charles Rhodes drained three free throws after getting fouled on a three-point attempt to give Chowan its biggest lead of the half, 37-23.

 

Saint Paul's once again responded to the Hawks' surge, as they tallied eight straight points to cut the lead back to six points. McDuffie scored four quick points as the half came to an end, giving the Hawks a 45-39 lead at intermission.

 

Neither offense could get much going in the second half until Mark McGlone nailed a three pointer to put Chowan up 52-42 with 15:54 on the clock. With the game being played at a frantic pace, Chowan recorded five straight points en route to a 65-51 advantage with 12:13 left in the half. The Chowan offense then cooled for a bit, as Saint Paul's went on a 6-0 run of their own to pull within eight with just under seven minutes left.

 

Charles Rhodes drained a layup off a well designed inbounds play with 2:32 on the clock to give Chowan a 77-67 lead. The final minutes were plagued with fouls as the Tigers tried to get back into the game. Chowan gladly accepted the challenge, shooting 13-16 from the charity stripe over the final 3:17. 

 

A well balanced attack propelled Chowan to the victory, as six players scored in double figures. Quinton McDuffie led the way with 18, while Charles Rhodes was not far behind with 17. Aaron Allen, Mark Brown, and Mark McGlone each notched 13. Deandre Tyree rounded out the top scorers with 10 markers. Tyree also had game-highs with 13 rebounds and 5 blocks. Maurice Reevey led the Tigers with 20 points. 

 

For the game, Chowan shot a stellar 55.4% from the field while holding Saint Paul's to only 34.3%. The Hawks also shot 5-7 from beyond the arc. Chowan dominated the paint offensively, outscoring the Tigers 48-22. 

 

The Hawks are off until this Saturday, when they host the Trojans of Virginia State University. Tip-off is set for 4:00pm in the Helms Center. Saint Paul's travels to Elizabeth City State University this Thursday for a 7:30pm tip-off.