Feb. 22, 2014

Final Stats

BOWIE, MD- Elizabeth City State University closed out the regular season with a hard fought 85-80 win over Bowie State University Saturday afternoon at the AC Jordan Arena.

The Vikings finished the regular season with a 6-4 record in the CIAA North, good for third place in the Division. Despite the loss the Bulldogs (14-13, CIAA 8-8) earned a 7-3 mark in the North and have secured a #1 seed as the Divisional Champions.

Bowie State offense shot an impressive 58.6% from the field in the first half.

ECSU's largest deficit 34-19 with 7:36 left in the first half but behind 15 and 12 points from Miykael Faulcon and Darrell Ward the Vikings pulled within 47-40 at the intermission.

In the second half it was ECSU's offense that caught fire as the Vikings shot 56% from the floor. The two teams played at a frenetic pace with 3 ties and 7 lead changes. The Bulldogs' Ray Gatling hit one of two from the line for BSU's final lead of the night, 70-69 with 6:37 to go. On ECSU's ensuing possession, Darrell Ward sank two free throws that sparked a 9-0 run. That gave the Vikings their largest lead of the game 78-70 with 1:48 left in the contest.

Carlos Smith hit back to back three-pointers and Joel Clemmons hit two from the line to pull BSU within a point 79-78 with 36 seconds left. Neither ECSU nor BSU scored from the floor the rest of the way and ECSU sealed the win hitting 6-8 from the free throw line.

Faulcon and Ward led ECSU in scoring with 21 and 18 points respectively, while Jeremy Basnight added 15 points and LaShawn Alexander chipped in with 14.

ECSU (14-12, CIAA 9-7) will open up CIAA Tournament play on Thursday in Charlotte, NC. Game times and pairings will be announced Sunday morning. Visit www.ecsuvikings.com for more information and follow on Twitter @ECSUVikings.