Feb. 9, 2006
Final Stats
ELIZABETH CITY, NC- It took an extra five minutes but the Johnson C. Smith University Golden Bulls held off the defeat the Elizabeth City State University Vikings 84-74 Thursday night at the R.L. Vaughan Center.
For a game that was broadcast live on ESPNU, one could not have asked for a more exciting game, much less the end to regulation. With two minutes remaining, the Vikings faced an 8-point deficit after a jumper by JCSU's Charles Clark. After an ECSU turnover was followed by a JCSU miss Dwayne Washington, Jr. was fouled by John Fulton and sent to the line for two. After the two good free throws cut the lead to six another Golden Bull turnover led to a fast break three-pointer by Courtney Castro with 49 seconds to go. With 15 ticks left, Jerome Givens missed the front end of a one-and-one which was rebounded by Edwin Coker, who gave the ball up to Castro again who squared up for another three-pointer drawing a foul while in the act of shooting from Fulton. With only 4 seconds on the clock Castro sank all three free throws in spite a Golden Bull timeout between the second and third as an attempt to freeze him. A last second three pointer by Bobby Bienaimee would fail, sending the game to overtime.
Although the Vikings were hot from the floor in the waning moments of the second half, such was not the case in the extra period. ECSU went 1-7 from the field and committed 3 turnovers in the extra period. The only field goal came courtesy of lay-up by Ben Bridges with 1:49 to go. By that time it didn't matter as the Golden Bulls had hit a three pointer and converted 9 free throws to out score the Vikings 12-2. The Golden Bulls improve to 18-4 and 10-1 in the CIAA while ECSU slips to 9-11, CIAA 5-6. JCSU was paced by 25 apiece from Clark and Maurice Hooper while Fulton finished with 11 points.
ECSU was led by Courtney Castro who finished with a team high 19 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Mitchell Moffatt added 14 points while Ben Bridges contributed 13.
The Vikings will return to the R.L. Vaughan Center on Saturday, February 11 as they host Saint Paul?s College. Game time is slated for 7:30pm. For more information on ESU Athletics, visit www.ecsuvikings.com.
