MURFREESBORO, N.C. – A perfect night from the charity stripe keeps the Chowan Men's Basketball team unbeaten to start the season with an 81-79 victory in the CIAA opener against Claflin on Saturday evening.
THE BASICS
FINAL | Chowan 81, Claflin 79
RECORDS | Chowan 6-0 (1-0), Claflin 2-6 (1-2)
LOCATION | Murfreesboro, N.C. (Helms Center)
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Chowan went a perfect 26-26 from the charity stripe including 9-9 from Timothy Bing.
Timothy Bing led the Hawks with 28 points on 8-11 shooting to go with his attempts from the line.
Demetrius Sanders tallied 17 points and seven rebounds. Michael Kelly and Robert Grubbs scored in double-figures with 16 and 10 points respectively. Gus Rowland scored eight points and added six assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half:
Demetrius Sanders scored the first five points for the Hawks as Claflin led 6-5 early. Both teams felt each other out as the lead would fluctuate back-and-forth.
Timothy Bing gave the Hawks a 19-17 lead with a triple, along with two freebies by Demetrius Sanders to lead 21-17.
Back-to-back buckets by Michael Kelly kept the lead for the Hawks, but Claflin responded to take the lead 27-25.
Michael Kelly and Timothy Bing countered to lead 29-27 with a pair of buckets. Bing converted three times from the stripe after being fouled behind the arc. Claflin scored the final bucket of the half to lead 39-38 at intermission.
Second Half:
Timothy Bing knocked down a three-pointer and a pair from the stripe to give the Hawks a 41-39 advantage. Claflin would push the lead to 47-43 before a triple by Robert Grubbs and a jumper by Gus Rowland handed the lead back to the Hawks, 48-47.
A quick 9-0 run by the Panthers pushed the lead to 56-48, but the Hawks would fight back to chip away at the deficit.
Michael Kelly netted two buckets and a jumper by Ugljesa Portic closed the gap to 62-56 at the media timeout, 9:36 left in the contest.
Claflin extended their advantage to double-figures, 68-58, before the Hawks went on a 21-5 run. Timothy Bing sparked the run with a jumper and a three-pointer. Robert Grubbs knocked down a triple and Demetrius Sanders had a thunderous dunk to keep the run going.
Timothy Bing tallied a pair from the stripe along with buckets by Demetrius Sanders and Gus Rowland to give the Hawks a 71-70 lead with 2:43 remaining. Michael Kelly converted from the stripe and added a layup to give the Hawks a three point lead, 75-72 with 97 seconds left.
Gus Rowland's 4-4 from the stripe offset the free throws by the Panthers before Demetrius Sanders salted away the win at the stripe with a pair to lead 81-76.
Claflin knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer but the Hawks stayed on top 81-79 for the win.
UP NEXT
Chowan hosts Cheyney (Pa.) in a non-conference contest on Tuesday, December 4. Tip-off is slated for 7:30pm.
