Dec. 17, 2012

Final Stats

ELIZABETH CITY, NC- Saint Leo University used a 20-4 run midway through the second half and cruised to an 87-74 win over Elizabeth City State University Monday night at the RL Vaughan Center.

During that run the Lions (7-2) hit four three-pointers, two each from Trent Thomas and Jarrell Harris. The duo accounted for all but one of Saint Leo's 13 made three pointers on the evening with Thomas dialing up 7 shots from downtown en route to his game high 28 points. Harris finished with 22 points while Marcus Ruh and Shaun Adams chipped in with 11 apiece.

After trailing by as many as 16 in the first half and 43-37 at the intermission, the Vikings rallied in the second half's opening minutes and on a layup and free throw by Ade Barek at the 16:53 mark the score was tied at 45.

With 13:07 left in the game and the Lions up 54-50, Angelo Sharpless converted a layup that would have cut the ECSU deficit to two, but it was waived off as Sharpless was whistled for a charge, his fourth foul of the game. The Vikings did cut the lead to two a basket on a layup by Deon Rice before the Lions went on the 20-4 run that would ultimately put the game out of reach.

Their hot shooting aside, the Lions held a decided advantage from the free throw line making more shots from the charity stripe (24) than the Vikings attempted on the night. Saint Leo went 24-33 from the line while ECSU shot a mere 8-14 on their home court.

Eight of the Vikings 14 attempts from the free throw line came with under four minutes to play.

Sharpless finished with another double-double, his fifth of the season, with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Deon Rice was the only other Viking in double figures with 12 points off the bench.

ECSU (6-3) will return to action when they face Francis Marion on December 30th in Florence, SC. Game time is scheduled for 2:00pm. Log onto www.ecsuvikings.com and follow on Twitter @ECSUVikings.