MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Chowan Men's team was unable to hold off the Tigers of Salem as the Hawks fell 96-90 in non-conference action at home on Wednesday evening.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 90, Salem 96

RECORDS | Chowan 12-9, Salem 14-8

LOCATION | Murfreesboro, N.C. (Helms Center)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Gus Rowland and Deon Joyner led the team with double-doubles on the evening.  Gus Rowland notched 21 points and 11 assists.  Joyner added 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

Timothy Bing led the Hawks with 25 points.  Demetrius Sanders recorded 21 points.  Michael Kelly hauled in 11 rebounds.

Chowan shot 2-11 from behind the arc in the second half after connecting on six in the first half.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half:

The back-and-forth fast paced opening half started with Timothy Bing scoring the first seven points for the Hawks to lead 7-4.  Michael Kelly and Gus Rowland got into the scoring action with layups.  Demetrius Sanders kept the Hawks in front, 13-12, with a dunk in transition.

The lead would switch hands and be knotted up for most of the half as Gus Rowland knocked down a three-pointer to level the score at 19-all before the Tigers answered at the other end.

Xavier Young and Demetrius Sanders added a layup before a quick 5-0 run put the Tigers up 29-23.  Chowan went on an 8-0 run to regain the lead at 31-29.  Sanders recorded a dunk and a three-pointer and Timothy Bing knocked down a triple for the lead.

Timothy Bing knocked down another three and Demetrius Sanders added a layup to keep the Hawks in from 36-32.  Gus Rowland's layup, a dunk by Sanders, along with two freebies by Xavier Young gave the Hawks a double-digit lead, 42-32, with 5:03 to play.

Salem would cut the deficit to five on a couple of occasions before Timothy Bing knocked down a three-pointer and a pair from the stripe to give the Hawks a 53-46 lead heading into the locker room.

Second Half:

Salem went on a 6-0 run out of the break to trim the lead to 53-52.  Gus Rowland sparked a 7-0 run to push the lead back to seven.  Rowland started with a layup before Deon Joyner knocked down a jumper.  Rowland capped off the run with a three-point play.

A 12-2 run gave the Tigers a 64-62 lead before Deon Joyner's layup evened the score.  Jumpers by Demetrius Sanders and Gus Rowland handed the lead back to the Hawks 70-69 with 11:40 to play.

Neither team was able to gain much of an advantage down the stretch with both teams matching basket for basket.  Gus Rowland and Deon Joyner knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to lead 82-81.

Timothy Bing added a three-point play and a layup to lead 88-84 with 3:40 to play.  The Tigers responded with a 10-0 run to take control of the contest 94-88 with 2:00 to play.

Deon Joyner added the final tally for the Hawks as the Tigers escaped with the 96-90 victory.

UP NEXT

Chowan hits the road to face CIAA Northern Division rival, Elizabeth City State, on Saturday, February 6.  Tip-off is slated for 4pm.