Jan. 31, 2006

Final Stats

ELIZABETH CITY, NC- The Elizabeth City State University Vikings held off a late rally to defeat Bowie State University 68-66 Tuesday night in the RL Vaughan Center.

Holding a 12 point lead with 4:37 remaining in the game it appeared that the Vikings were in control. However the Bulldogs had other ideas as they went on a 12-3 run to cut the Viking lead to just three points with 10 seconds remaining. After a missed free throw by Jermaine Peebles, the Bulldogs Magnus St Ange took the rebound, drove the length of the court and nailed a 3-pointer with 4 ticks left. After a Bulldogs timeout and the subsequent Viking inbound, Ben Bridges was fouled, sending him to the free throw line to try an ice the game for ECSU. After making the first free throw he misfired on the second but to the relief of the Viking faithful Maurice Wilkerson grabbed the offensive rebound to secure the win.

Until their late drought set up the nail biting finish, the Vikings had led the entire game. Bench scoring proved to be a deciding factor in every run that BSU would muster throughout the contest. The Viking reserves outscored the Bulldog bench 32-20 led by backup point guard Brian West who score 7 of his 9 points in the second half. Another non-starter that factored in for ECSU was Edwin Coker who finished with 10 points. Bridges led the way with a team high 14 points while Tyrone Green added 12.

The Bulldogs (12-8, CIAA 5-4) did not help their comeback cause much as they shot a dismal 44% from the free throw line (13-29). Kevin Bell and St. Ange finished with 17 points each for BSU.

The Vikings will return to action on Saturday, February 4, 2006 as they travel to Raleigh, NC to take on the Shaw University Bears. Game time is slated for 7:30pm in Spaulding Gymnasium. For more information on ECSU Athletics, log onto www.ecsuvikings.com.