Box Score MURFREESBORO, NC- The Chowan University men's basketball team suffered an 81-76 setback to Virginia Union University on Saturday afternoon.  The CIAA Northern Division loss drops the Hawks to 6-12 overall on the season and 2-8 in the league.  The Panthers improve to 6-14 overall and 5-6 in the CIAA after the win. 
 
Avery Jirmnson scored a team-high 22 points in the contest.  Omar Briggs tallied 21 points for the Panthers and also hauled in 11 rebounds (three offensive, eight defensive).
 
The Hawks were led by Phoenix Butler-Poole who notched 12 points and 10 rebounds (three offensive, seven defensive) in the loss.  Dominique Terry followed with a career-high 17 points. 
 
The first half was closely contested as the score was tied three times with four lead changes.  At the 12:04 mark and the Hawks trailing 12-9, a free throw by Omar Briggs for Virginia Union sparked a 5-0 run, resulting in an eight point advantage for the Panthers.   Chowan quickly responded with an 11-3 run to knot the score 20-20 with 7:34 left to play.  The Panthers battled back to take a 33-21 lead with 3:48 left to play before closing out the half with a 32-38 advantage. 
 
Virginia Union maintained the lead for the remainder of the contest and led by as many as 12 points (64-52) as late as the 6:30 mark.  The Hawks orchestrated a 9-0 run to pull within three points (64-61) with just 3:23 left to play.  Ashante Ross' three-pointer with 24 seconds left in the game brought Chowan within two points of the Panthers (78-76) but free throws by Ray Anderson and Briggs secured the 81-76 win for Virginia Union.
 
The Hawks return to action on Monday as they head to the Apprentice School for a nonconference match-up against the Builders.  Tip-off is slated for 6:00pm.