ELIZABETH CITY, NC- The Vikings men's basketball team dominated the Bears of Shaw University in the second half securing an 80-70 win Tuesday night in the R.L. Vaughan Center.

The Vikings improve to 4-1 on the season.
 
The Bears fall to 3-2 on the season.
 
Senior forward Joseph Allen (Miami Gardens, FL) captured his second consecutive double-double tallying 20 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Justin Faison (Waldorf, MD) followed up with 17 points, junior guard Zaccheus Hobbs (Maysville, NC) contributed 14 points, and freshman guard Phillip Burwell (Raleigh, NC) rounded out the Vikings double-digit scoring with 10 points.

The Vikings continue to show their depth and poise with multiple players ending the night in double-digit scoring after shooting their lights out to come back from a 13 point deficit at the half. 

The Bears were offensively and defensively led by David Madol with 26 points and 16 rebounds.

ECSU shot 50 percent from the field, 25 percent from behind the arc, and went 14-22 at the line shooting 63.6 percent.
 
Shaw shot 48.2 percent from the field, 42.2 percent from behind the arc, and 90 percent at the line.
 
The Vikings led the Bears early in the first half, but the Bears outscored the Vikings 11-5 to take a 23-17 advantage midway through the first half. 
 
A three-pointer by Hobbs made it a one possession game at the 4:29 mark (29-26) Shaw, but an 
 
18-8 run by the Bears sent the Vikings into halftime trailing Shaw 47-34. 
 
The second half told a different story and the Vikings were determined to control the narrative and the floor. 
 
ECSU shot 56.7 percent in the second half while holding Shaw to 33.3%. The Vikings allowed six three-pointers in the first half, but held Shaw to 1-of-7 from behind the arc in the second half. 
 
Defensively the Vikings had eight steals and forced 12 turnovers in the second half which was more than the Vikings total of seven. The defensive effort led to 21 points off turnovers in the contest.
 
"We had a paradigm shift in the second half," shared Head Coach Shawn Walker. "I challenged our team to give us the standard. Let's determine if we are going to be the team you saw in the second half or the first half."

The Vikings unleashed a 26-6 run in the second stanza initiated by a pair of layups from Faison and Allen to get ECSU going. 
 
ECSU's ability to score the basket was an obvious factor, but the Vikings waking up on the defensive end is what fueled them to a 10-point victory over a Shaw team that shot 59.4 percent in the first half. 
 
The Vikings will be back in action on Thursday in the R.L. Vaughan Center to take on the Panthers of Claflin University for the first home double-header of the 2019-20 season. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.