MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Chowan Men's Basketball team saw their double-digit lead evaporate in the second round of the Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Championship against rival Mount Olive in a 97-90 loss at home on Monday.
THE BASICS
FINAL | Chowan 90, Mount Olive 97
LOCATION | Murfreesboro, N.C. (Hawks Athletic Center)
RECORDS | Chowan 14-10, Mount Olive 13-18
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Chowan led by as many as 19 points before being outscored by 21 in the second half.
Isaac Hippolyte and RJ Wilson collected double-doubles. Hippolyte posted 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Wilson tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds. Jay Estime finished his career with a team-high 23 points. Christian Koonce added 14 points and Daylan Askew added 13 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half:
RJ Wilson put the Hawks on the board before Daylan Askew connected from deep and hit a jumper. Jay Estime scored the next five points to put the Hawks up 12-6. Askew connected from deep before Christian Koonce hit a jumper to lead 17-13.
Donavon Martin tallied a jumper and a pair from the stripe as Preston Le Gassick added a jumper to spark a run. Christian Koonce hit a layup, jumper and three-pointer to push the lead to 30-21. Jay Estime connected from deep and Veigar Alexandersson tallied a transition basket to push the advantage to 36-23.
Preston Le Gassick added a basket and Skyler Davies finished off the alley-oop from Christian Koonce. Isaac Hippolyte added the next two baskets to keep the advantage, 44-35. Jay Estime knocked down a triple before RJ Wilson added four points. Hippolyte finished the scoring at the stripe to lead 53-49 at the half.
Second Half:
Daylan Askew opened the scoring in the half with a fastbreak jumper. RJ Wilson knocked down a trey and Isaac Hippolyte added a jumper to push the advantage to its largest, 19, at 60-41, with 17:47 remaining.
Mount Olive went on a 22-5 run to cut the deficit to two, 65-63, over a four minute stretch before Isaac Hippolyte added a layup. UMO would take a 68-67 lead as Hippolyte added another basket. Jay Estime hit a deep two to give the Hawks a 71-68 advantage.
The Trojans evened the score at 71-all before Jay Estime hit another jumper. RJ Wilson added a three-point play and Estime connected from deep on back-to-back possessions to lead 81-76. UMO answered with a 7-0 run to regain the lead 83-82.
The lead would flip hands with a layup by Jay Estime, 85-84, before the Trojans went on an 8-2 run to lead 92-86. Christian Koonce and Isaac Hippolyte tried to keep the score close with a basket each but the Trojans would finish off the contest.
