MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Chowan Men's Basketball team saw their postseason dreams vanish in a 79-74 loss to Lees-McRae in Conference Carolinas action on Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 74, Lees-McRae 79

RECORDS | Chowan 9-16 (6-13), Lees-McRae 18-9 (11-8)

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

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Four Hawks recorded double-figure scoring outings led by BJ McLaurin with 18 points and 15 rebounds.  Michael Kelly came up one rebound short of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Jamal Thomas chipped in with 15 points, while Jaylen Dilliard scored 10.

The tight contest came down to turnovers, as Chowan committed 14 and Lees-McRae had 10.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half:

Jaylen Dilliard tallied the first point of the contest from the free throw line and Michael Kelly scored on a putback.  BJ McLaurin connected from deep to lead 6-2.

Lees-McRae went on a 12-2 run to lead 14-8.  BJ McLaurin tallied the lone bucket during the spurt and ended the run with a layup on a putback.

Michael Kelly scored a layup before Tahkey Williams knocked down a triple to regain the lead 15-14.  Williams connected again from deep after a run by the Bobcats to cut the deficit to 21-18.

Isaiah Lewis added a layup before a 9-3 run by the Bobcats pushed the LMC lead to 30-23.  Jamal Thomas scored a bucket before a pair of freebies by Thomas was offset by another LMC run.

The Bobcats pushed their advantage to 37-25 with 4:58 remaining to force Chowan to call a timeout.

Michael Kelly converted the three-point play prior to a layup by BJ McLaurin and a triple by Khalil Ridges cut the deficit to 42-33.  McLaurin connected from deep to end the half to trail 42-36.

Second Half:

Chowan opened the second half on a 21-7 run spanning 5:34 of the half.  Khalil Ridges started the run with a layup followed by a jumper by Jamal Thomas.  LMC scored to get on the board in the half, but a layup by Michael Kelly and a triple by Jaylen Dilliard continued the run.  Dilliard added another trey and Kelly scored three points to push the lead to 51-46.

Jamal Thomas, Jaylen Dilliard, and Khalil Ridges scored layups to cap off the run.  The Bobcats continued to chip away with neither team wanting to back down.  LMC cut the deficit to two, 59-57, with 11:03 to play before Thomas connected from deep.

The lead would swap hands as Jamal Thomas and Michael Kelly scored.  BJ McLaurin added a pair from the stripe and an emphatic dunk in transition to lead 71-66 with 4:24 to play.

Michael Kelly posted a layup before a triple by the Bobcats evened the score at 73-all.  BJ McLaurin went 1-2 from the line to give the Hawks their final lead of the game 74-73.

LMC finished off the game with a 6-0 to take the contest 79-74.

UP NEXT

Chowan wraps up the 2019-2020 season with a home game against Limestone on Tuesday, February 25.  It will be senior night, as well as, Play4Kay night.  Ta'Sean Young, Ugljesa Portic, and Michael Kelly will be honored before the contest.