MURFREESBORO – The Chowan Men's Basketball team fell to Elizabeth City State University in a CIAA North matchup Saturday night, 69-59.  The Hawks fall to 4-19 on the season (3-12 CIAA, 3-6 North).  With the victory, the Vikings improve to 15-8 overall (9-6 CIAA, 5-4 North).

Elizabeth City State got off to a hot start, opening up a 10-5 lead 2:23 into the game.  Chowan cut the lead to 12-10 at the 14:23 mark on an Aaron Allen free throw.  From there, Mark Brown went off.  Connecting on two three pointers, a mid-range jumper, and two free throws, Brown scored the next 10 Hawk points. 

A Deandre Tyree layup with 6:38 remaining in the half put the Hawks up 30-21, giving them their largest lead of the first half.  The Vikings regained their composure and scored the game's next 10 points en route to a 31-30 lead at the 3:40 mark. 

Mark Brown scored the final three points for the Hawks in the half, giving his team a 35-33 advantage at the break.  Chowan shot 5-10 from beyond the arc in the half, including four from Brown.  Both squads shot over 48% from the field for the first 20 minutes.

The first five minutes of the second half were played very evenly as neither team led by more than three points.  A Paul Goldsmith dunk with 14:46 to go sparked a 9-0 Viking run to give them a 50-42 lead with 12:02 to play.  Two Mark Brown free throws at the 8:14 mark brought Chowan back within six, but the Elizabeth City attack proved too much to overcome.

Quinton McDuffie nailed a three with 41 seconds left to bring the Viking lead to 64-59, but ECSU scored the final five points of the game securing the road victory.

Mark Brown led Chowan with 23 points, including 19 in the first half.  Quinton MCDuffie (11) and Deandre Tyree (10) also scored in double figures for the Hawks.  The Vikings were led by Rondy Tucker who posted an impressive double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds.

Chowan will travel to Virginia Union University on Monday for a 7:30pm tip-off.  Elizabeth City State will host Virginia State University on Monday night.  A 7:30 tip-off is scheduled.