FLORENCE, S.C. –  Cheick Traore went 1-2 at the stripe with 4.1 seconds remaining to give the Chowan Men's Basketball team the lead before salting the victory away at the line to avenge their loss to Francis Marion in Conference Carolinas action on Tuesday night on the road with an 82-79 victory.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 82, Francis Marion 79

RECORDS | Chowan 2-10 (2-8), Francis Marion 4-7 (2-7)

LOCATION | Florence, S.C. (Smith University Center)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Christian Koonce posted his third straight 20+ point game with a career-high 27 points.  Jay Estime added 24 points, collecting two of his seven made free throws to seal the victory.  Estime also tallied six assists.

Chase Barnett chipped in with 11 points, seven assists, and six rebounds.  RJ Wilson added eight points and seven rebounds.

Chowan hit a season-high 13 three-pointers while shooting 50.0% (13-26) from deep.  The Hawks limited turnovers in the second half with three after posting nine in the first half.  Francis Marion posted 13 turnovers, with the most crucial one coming with 0.7 seconds remaining.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half:

The Hawks started off strong knocking down a trio of three-pointers as Marcus Elliott, Christian Koonce, and Jay Estime connected from deep to race out to a 9-2 lead.  The run would continue as the Hawks moved their advantage to double-digits, 18-6.  Cheick Traore posted a pair of buckets prior to a three-pointer by Koonce and a pair of free throws by Estime.

FMU cut into the deficit prior to Chase Barnett and Jay Estime connected from the floor and Christian Koonce added a pair from the stripe to lead 24-11.  RJ Wilson picked up a jumper as the Patriots went on a 17-2 run to take their first lead of the contest, 28-26.

Chase Barnett would end the run with a three-pointer to hand the lead back to the Hawks, 29-28.  Christian Koonce and Jay Estime connected from the floor as FMU answered with a 7-0 run to lead 37-34.

Christian Koonce recorded an old-fashioned three-point play prior to RJ Wilson and Chase Barnett picking up points at the charity stripe to even the score at 40-all.  FMU would take a 42-40 lead into the locker room.

Second Half:

Jay Estime knocked down a three-pointer to even the score before RJ Wilson added a layup.  Estime and Christian Koonce connected from deep before Chase Barnett hit a jumper to lead 54-52. 

Marcus Elliott sparked a 13-2 run with a layup in transition following a steal.  Jay Estime connected from deep along with back-to-back three-pointers by Christian Koonce and a jumper by RJ Wilson pushed the advantage to 67-57.

Francis Marion answered with a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 69-67.  Donavon Martin connected from the floor to slow the run.  Christian Koonce ended the run with a layup and free throw.  Chase Barnett added a layup to push the lead to 74-67.

The Patriots regained the lead, 77-74, with a 10-0 run as the Hawks were held scoreless for over four minutes.  Jay Estime went 3-4 from the stripe to even the score with 1:41 remaining.

Chowan would call a timeout following the defensive rebound with 1:01 remaining.  Christian Koonce gave the Hawks the lead with a turn-around jumper.  The Patriots would answer on their next possession with a putback bucket after grabbing two offensive rebounds.

On the final possession for the Hawks, Cheick Traore was fouled with 4.1 seconds remaining.  Traore would go 1-2 from the stripe to give the Hawks an 80-79 advantage.  Traore's size hindered the in-bounds pass as FMU bobbled the pass and turned the ball over with 1.9 remaining and was forced to foul with less than a second to play.

Jay Estime knocked down both attempts to seal the victory 82-79.

UP NEXT

Chowan is scheduled to take on Mount Olive at home in Conference Carolinas action on Thursday, January 13.  Tip-off is slated for 7pm.