ELIZABETH CITY, NC- The Vikings battled hard in the final minutes of action to get back into the game, but fell short on the road at UNC Pembroke 86-81 Monday.

The Vikings drop to 6-3 on the season.
 
Junior guard Justin Faison (Waldorf, MD) led the charge offensively for the Vikings recording  season highs of 26 points and four made three-pointers to lead all scorers in the game. Junior guard Zaccheus Hobbs (Maysville, NC) followed up with 21 points on the day, while junior forward Rashard Zimmerman (Detroit, MI) added 14 points for ECSU. 
 
The Braves were offensively led by David Strother with 20 points and defensively led by Akia Pruitt with eight rebounds and four blocks.
 
ECSU shot 50 percent from the field, 48.1 percent from behind the arc, and 61.5 percent at the line.
 
UNCP shot 51.9 percent from the field, 45 percent from behind the arc, and 77.8 percent at the line. 
 
The Vikings got behind in the early moments of the contest, but back to back baskets from Faison knotted the score at 17-all with 12:41 remaining in the first half.
 
ECSU managed to take control of the lead twice, but UNCP outscored the Vikings 24-14 to close out the opening half. 
 
UNCP claimed their largest lead of the game with 14:31 left in the game up by 18 points 58-40. However; the Vikings were far from done.
 
A steal and block from Tyjhai Byers and a steal from Zimmerman, led to consecutive defensive stops for the Vikings resulting in back to back three-pointers from Hobbs and Faison to reenergize the Vikings on both ends of the floor. 
 
Fighting towards a comeback, foul troubled ailed the Vikings down the stretch and limited the minutes on the floor across the board for the Vikings big men. Allen and Byers each had four fouls with over ten minutes left to play. 
 
With 3:33 left in the game the Vikings found themselves down by a 17 point margin and that's when ECSU turned up the heat. In a matter of 27 seconds a three pointer from Hobbs, a steal and layup from Faison gave ECSU a quick unanswered five points.
 
At the 2:10 mark the Vikings were still down by 16 points and the Braves were looking to put the game away. 
 
The Vikings outscored UNCP 13-4 in a matter of two minutes to make it a one possession game with a dagger from Faison behind the arc to make it an 84-81 game. 
 
Despite their efforts the Vikings ran out of time falling to the Braves 86-81. 
 
The Vikings will be back in action on Thursday in Raleigh, NC to take on the Bears of Shaw University. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.