Box Score MURFREESBORO- The Chowan University men's basketball team opened the second half of the season with a 79-69 win over Bluefield State College on Saturday afternoon in the Helms Center.  The Hawks improve to 8-3 on the year with the victory while the Big Blues slide to 4-13 on the season after Saturday's setback. 

Joe Goodwin led all players in the contest with 20 points for the Hawks.  He also notched eight rebounds in the contest (three offensive, five defensive).  Marco Haskins added 17 points for Chowan while Kortez Smith and Andrew Lopez added 14 points and 10 points, respectively.  Josh Mellette grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds (three offensive, seven defensive).

Avery Holliday led the Big Blues with 18 points followed by Mark Durgan who chipped in 16 points in the setback.  Chas Harvey notched 11 points followed by Joshua Windham with 10 points.  Aaron Williams paced Bluefield State with 10 rebounds (four offensive, six defensive). 

The Hawks grabbed the lead at the start of the first contest using a bucket by Arroyo.  With the score tied 8-8, a lay-up by Goodwin sparked a 6-0 run for the Hawks and handed the Big Blues a six point deficit (14-8).  Bluefield State battled back to pull within one point (14-13) with 11:25 on the clock, but Chowan clung to the lead and pulled away 25-18 after a three-pointer Smith with 7:46 remaining in the first half.  The Hawks battled to maintain the advantage and carried a 33-28 lead heading into halftime. 

Bluefield State fought back at the start of the second half and used a 9-2 run to take a narrow 37-35 lead.  A three-pointer by Lopez sparked a 10-0 run for the Chowan Blue and White, handing the Hawks solid control of the momentum by the 14:03 mark.  With the Hawks holding a 64-53 advantage and 7:26 on the clock, the Big Blues answered with another 9-2 run to pull within four points (66-62) with 4:13 remaining in the game. The Hawks never surrendered the advantage in the remainder of the contest and took advantage of free throw opportunities down the stretch to secure the 79-69 non-conference win.   

The Hawks return to action on January 4^th when they travel to Raleigh, North Carolina to take on Shaw University in CIAA crossover play.  Tip-off is slated for 8:00pm.