MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Chowan Men's Basketball team battled back from a double-digit deficit to pick up their fifth win in six games with a 77-74 victory over North Greenville in Conference Carolinas action on Friday evening.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 77, North Greenville 74

RECORDS | Chowan 6-11 (6-9), North Greenville 5-13 (3-12)

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

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Marcus Elliott paced the Hawks with 18 points on 4-9 shooting from deep.  Chase Barnett tallied 17 points on 8-11 shooting and a career-high eight assists.

Christian Koonce tallied 15 points, while Cheick Traore hauled in 11 rebounds.

NGU shot 64.3% (9-14) from deep in the first half and 16.7% (1-6) in the second half.  The defense forced 17 turnovers compared to only eight committed.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half:

North Greenville opened up the contest on an 8-0 run with a pair of triples.  Christian Koonce put the Hawks on the board with a jumper in transition.  Cheick Traore added a layup before NGU pushed their advantage to double-figures, 14-4.

Christian Koonce and Chase Barnett picked up a basket each before Marcus Elliott connected from deep to cut the deficit to 18-11.  Barnett scored the next six points for the Hawks to cut the deficit to 23-17.

Jay Estime connected from the floor as NGU pushed their advantage back to double-figures, 31-19.  Marcus Elliott sparked an 11-0 run to trim the deficit to one, 31-30 with 4:13 remaining.  Elliott knocked down a triple before Donavon Martin finished off the alley-oop from Chase Barnett.  Barnett and Martin scored following a pair of steals and RJ Wilson recorded a dunk.

The Hawks would continue to claw back as Donavon Martin added a jumper and Christian Koonce scored the next seven points for the Hawks to lead 39-38.

NGU hit a three-pointer to lead 41-39 at the intermission.

Second Half:

NGU went on an 8-2 run to open the half to lead 49-41 as Christian Koonce scored the lone tally for the Hawks.  Koonce would end the run with a layup in transition.  The Hawks would cut the deficit to 55-50 with a 7-2 run with Cheick Traore recording a layup and RJ Wilson knocking down a triple and a jumper.

Chase Barnett followed up a NGU basket with the next five points to close the gap to 57-55.  The Crusaders countered with an 11-2 run to push their advantage to 11, 68-57.  Donavon Martin ended the run with a layup prior to Marcus Elliott knocking down a trey.

Marcus Elliott once again connected from deep and scored a layup in transition to cut the deficit to two, 69-67 to spark a run.  NGU tallied a point at the stripe before Jay Estime knocked down a jumper and Chase Barnett hit from the floor to hand the lead to the Hawks, 71-70, with 2:43 remaining.

NGU regained the lead after Jay Estime posted a layup with just over a minute to play.  Estime handed the lead back to the Hawks on a pair of free throws.  The Chowan defense stood tall forcing a pair of errant three-pointers and a turnover to maintain the lead.  Marcus Elliott picked up a pair of free throws at the line to finish off the contest.

UP NEXT

Chowan will look to continue their momentum at home as the Hawks host Converse on Saturday, February 5.  Tip-off is slated for 4pm.