DUE WEST, S.C. – The Chowan Men's Basketball team was unable to thwart the late run by the Flying Fleet as Erskine handed the Hawks a 75-72 Conference Carolinas loss on Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 72, Erskine 75

RECORDS | Chowan 8-12 (5-9), Erskine 7-13 (4-10)

LOCATION | Due West, S.C. (Belk Arena)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Khalil Ridges was on fire in the first half scoring 17 of his 21 points.  BJ McLaurin registered another double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Jaylen Dilliard tallied 14 points, while Ja'Darien Wade and Isaiah Lewis added eight and seven points respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half:

Khalil Ridges scored the opening seven points for the Hawks with two layups and a triple to lead 7-2 and force an Erskine timeout.

Erskine answered the call to even the score before Isaiah Lewis converted the three-point play to put the Hawks back on top.  BJ McLaurin connected from the floor as Erskine trimmed the deficit to one, 12-11.

Ja'Darien Wade sparked a back-and-forth scoring run with a pair of buckets along with a jumper by Khalil Ridges, a layup by Jaylen Dilliard and a triple by Ridges to push the lead to 23-15.

Erskine started chipping away to cut the deficit to two, 24-22, but BJ McLaurin ended the run with a layup before the under eight media timeout.

BJ McLaurin add three points and Jaylen Dilliard hit a jumper before the Fleet took a 32-31 lead.  Jamal Thomas handed the lead back to the Hawks with a three pointer sparking a run.  Khalil Ridges added the next four points and Dilliard knocked down a triple to lead 41-32 with 1:08 remaining.

Erskine scored before the half to trail 41-34.

Second Half:

A pair of free throws by BJ McLaurin started the scoring for the Hawks prior to a three pointer by Jaylen Dilliard for the first basket of the half.  Dilliard added another triple as Erskine started chipping away at the deficit.

The Fleet pulled within one, 50-49, with 12:58 remaining before Ja'Darien Wade and Isaiah Lewis converted from the floor.  The Hawks looked to pull away with another Lewis bucket and points from BJ McLaurin and Khalil Ridges, but the Fleet answered at the other end.

Leading 62-54 with 9:03 remaining, Erskine started their run with an 11-0 run to take the lead 65-62.  BJ McLaurin ended the run with a jumper.  McLaurin added two more buckets as Erskine maintained a three point advantage.

A jumper by Ja'Darien Wade and two freebies by BJ McLaurin cut the deficit to one, 73-72, with 1:16 remaining.

Jamal Thomas would steal the ball with just under a minute to play but a live ball turnover allowed the Fleet to maintain their advantage and score with 15 seconds left.  The Hawks were unable to get the game-tying shot off.

UP NEXT

Chowan heads north to take on Salem in a non-conference contest on Thursday, February 6.  Tip-off is slated for 1pm in Salem, W.Va.