SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Another strong performance by Christian Koonce was not enough in a one-point loss to Converse on the road in Conference Carolinas play on Friday evening.
THE BASICS
FINAL | Chowan 67, Converse 68
RECORDS | Chowan 1-10 (1-8), Converse 5-7 (4-4)
LOCATION | Spartanburg, S.C. (Hannah Gym)
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Christian Koonce led all scorers with 24 points including 19 in the second half. Jay Estime added 12 points, while Chase Barnett contributed 10 points. Cheick Traore hauled in eight rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half:
Cheick Traore put the Hawks on the board with a dunk in transition after Marcus Elliott broke the press. Jay Estime and Christian Koonce knocked down a pair of triples from the left wing to lead 8-2. Chase Barnett and Marcus Elliott connected from deep to put the Hawks up 14-6.
Jay Estime continued the three-point barrage with a triple before the media timeout. Converse closed the gap with six straight points, 17-14. Daylen Askew and Jay Estime answered with a pair of buckets to lead 21-14 at the under-12 media timeout.
RJ Wilson added a basket with a floating jumper in the paint before a quick 5-0 run by the Valkyries closed the gap to 23-21. Chowan struggled to maintain possession turning the ball over four of their next six possessions. Christian Koonce would end the streak with a step-back jumper. Cheick Traore added a layup before Paul Whitby connected from the floor.
Jay Estime connected from the floor as Converse continued to claw their way back into the contest with a pair of three-pointers, 31-27. The Valkyries connected from deep before Donavon Martin completed the alley-oop from Christian Koonce.
Chowan would head into the locker room with a 33-32 advantage.
Second Half:
Converse would take their first lead since the opening basket of the contest with the first points in the half. Marcus Elliott would even up the score at 34-all with a point at the charity stripe. The Valkyries grabbed the lead again with a 5-0 run, 39-34.
Chase Barnett picked up a point at the stripe before Christian Koonce connected from the left elbow and a floater to even the score with 16:23 remaining. Cheick Traore went 1-2 from the line prior to Koonce connecting from deep to push the lead to 46-41.
Donavon Martin added another dunk as Converse posted a three-point play to trim the deficit to 49-46. Christian Koonce continued the hot shooting with a three-pointer from the right wing and a jumper to push the advantage to 54-48 before the media timeout.
Chase Barnett offset a Converse pair of free throws with an old-fashioned three-point play in transition. Barnett added a deep pull-up jumper to extend the lead to 60-52. The Valkyries regained the lead 63-62 after an 11-2 run over the next 3:41 to force a Chowan timeout. Jay Estime tallied the lone bucket for the Hawks.
The run continued for the Valkyries with a layup before Christian Koonce connected from the stripe for a pair. Koonce would come up with a steal with a minute to play and go 1-2 from the stripe to even the score at 65-all with 55 seconds remaining.
Converse would pick up a point at the stripe with 39.2 seconds remaining. With 21.4 seconds remaining, Donavon Martin gives the Hawks a 67-66 lead finishing off the alley-oop from Marcus Elliott. Converse would answer at the other end following a timeout to regain the one-point lead with 7.9 seconds left.
The Valkyries would come away with a steal on the final possession to hand the Hawks a one-point loss.
UP NEXT
With the postponement of the game on Saturday against Belmont Abbey, the Hawks will turn their attention to Francis Marion as Chowan takes on the Patriots on Tuesday, January 11 in an updated time of 6pm.
