MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Chowan Men's Basketball team ran their win streak to four games with a 91-83 victory over Lees-McRae on Saturday afternoon in Conference Carolinas action.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 91, Lees-McRae 83

RECORDS | Chowan 4-3 (2-1), Lees-McRae 2-6 (0-3)

LOCATION | Murfreesboro, N.C. (Hawks Athletic Center)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Christian Koonce led the team with 20 points on 7-11 shooting from the floor.  Chase Barnett chipped in 17 points, while Preston Le Gassick added 11 points and Isaac Hippolyte tallied 10 points.

RJ Wilson hauled in 11 points to go with eight points, while Cheick Traore posted 10 rebounds and six points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half:

Chowan raced out to an early 8-2 advantage as Cheick Traore, Daylan Askew, Chase Barnett, and RJ Wilson collected a basket each.  Christian Koonce knocked down a pair of triples to continue the scoring for the Hawks as Isaac Hippolyte added a jumper in-between the Koonce baskets.

Jay Estime connected from deep off an offensive rebound as LMC took the lead 23-19.  Christian Koonce scored the next eight points for the Hawks with a three-point play, triple, and a pair from the stripe to spark a rally.  The run continued as Isaac Hippolyte collected a pair from the stripe and Preston Le Gassick posted an old-fashioned three-point to lead 32-28.

Isaac Hippolyte collected a layup before Chase Barnett finished off the three-point play to maintain the advantage.  LMC rallied to regain the lead, 38-37, before Daylan Askew connected from deep and added a fastbreak dunk.

The Bobcats posted the final points in the half to lead 43-42.

Second Half:

Chase Barnett scored the first five points for the Hawks as both teams traded baskets.  Cheick Traore and Christian Koonce added a layup to cut the deficit to one, 52-51.  Following the media timeout, Chowan went on a 6-0 run to regain the lead, 57-54.  Koonce started the run with a pair of baskets before RJ Wilson added a putback basket.

Lees-McRae ended the run with a basket, but RJ Wilson continued to work in the paint with a dunk and a layup.  Jay Estime knocked down a triple to push the lead to seven, 65-58.  LMC chipped away at the deficit before Preston Le Gassick connected from deep.  Le Gassick added another triple to offset the Bobcat attack.

At the under-eight media timeout with the Hawks leading 75-71, Chase Barnett posted a quick 6-0 run with a jumper before Isaac Hippolyte added a pair from the stripe and a layup to push the lead to 81-71.  Barnett picked up three more points before an emphatic dunk by Skyler Davies in transition off the steal and assist by Preston Le Gassick.

Chase Barnett, Preston Le Gassick, and Daylan Askew finished off the scoring at the charity stripe as LMC went 2-7 from the floor in the final three minutes.

UP NEXT

Chowan continues their homestand as the Hawks host Emmanuel in Conference Carolinas action on Monday, December 5.  Tip-off is slated for 6pm.