MURFREESBORO- The Chowan University men's basketball team earned a 93-50 victory against Piedmont International University on Thursday evening. The contest was the Hawks' first home game of the season. Chowan improves to 2-1 on the year while the Bruins slip to 0-3 after Thursday's setback.
Nathan Hewitt led the effort for the Bruins with 18 points and seven rebounds (two offensive, five defensive) followed by Reggie Scippio with 10 points. Valentine chipped in nine points for Piedmont International in the setback. The Bruins were held to a 33% field goal percentage on the evening.
Chowan had 12 different players score in the contest led by
Marco Haskins with 15 points.
Warren Powers followed with 14 points for the Hawks while
Kortez Smith and Tim Hewett notched 13 points and 10 points, respectively.
Josh Mellette hauled in seven rebounds (three offensive, four defensive) and
Jeremy Smith added six rebounds (two offensive, four defensive). The Hawks shot 59% from the floor over the course of the contest with their bench players accounting for 62 of the team's 93 points.
Jeremy Smith opened the contest with a jumper to put the Hawks on the board and Mellette followed with a basket to push Chowan ahead 4-0 early in the contest.
Malik Crute's layup at the 14:24 mark gave the Hawks a 10-3 lead by the first media timeout of the game. Haskins' three pointer after the break left the Bruins looking to recover from a 13-3 deficit.
The Bruins pulled within five points (13-8) with 12:23 on the clock but the Hawks worked their way back to a double-digit lead (20-10) by the 10:42 mark. Holding a narrow 20-18 advantage with just under ten minutes left in the first half, the Hawks orchestrated a 20-0 run to leave the Bruins trailing 40-18 with 4:00 remaining before halftime. A jumper by Hewitt ended the scoring drought for Piedmont International, but the Hawks headed into halftime with a commanding 50-25 lead.
Chowan continued the momentum into the second half and led by 25 or more points for the remainder of the contest. With a 72-44 lead and 8:53 left in the game, Crute's jumper sparked a 16-2 run for Chowan to give the Hawks an 88-46 advantage. Piedmont International was unable to overcome the deficit, resulting in the 93-50 win for the Hawks.
Chowan returns to action on Saturday as the Hawks play host Belmont Abbey College. Tip-off is slated for 4:00pm in the Helms Center.
