ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (Feb. 9, 2019) – Elizabeth City State turned back a late challenge by Chowan to preserve an 84-76 CIAA win behind junior forward John Maynor's season-high 25 points in the Robert L. Vaughan Center.
 
Maynor, who connected on seven of 11 shots from 3-point range to equal his career-high in scoring, anchored a pair of Viking rallies which spelled the difference in the game.
 
ECSU (12-12, CIAA 8-5, North Div. 2-4) had an enormous 54-4 edge in points from reserves as both teams shot better than 50 per cent from the floor.  The Vikings earned a regular-season series split with the Hawks (12-10, CIAA 5-8, North Div. 2-4) while stamping Chowan with its third straight divisional loss.
 
Sophomore guard Omar Roberts dished out a career-high 14 assists to help ECSU shoot a sizzling 57.9% (33-57) from the floor while adding nine points and a team-high four steals. 
 
Sophomore guard Shykeef Daniels came off the bench to hit seven of 10 field goals and finish with 16 points and six rebounds.  Senior guard Shyheid Petteway posted 11 points and three assists. Junior center Tajhai Byers, who finished with eight points, had three blocked shots – including two in the final minute of the game.
 
Junior guard Timothy Bing paced the Hawks with 19 points while sophomore guard Gus Rowland added 17 points plus team-highs of four assists and four steals.  Senior guard Demetrius Sanders and junior forward Michael Kelly score 14 points apiece while junior forward Deon Joyner recorded eight points and a game-high seven rebounds.
 
Maynor keyed a decisive 13-2 run after the Hawks had rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to tie the score at 61-61 on a 3-point jumper by Bing with 5:44 left.  After a trey by Daniels put the Vikings ahead for good, Maynor hit back-to-back shots from beyond the arc before adding a layup to give ECSU some separation.  A dunk by Byers on Roberts's 13^th assist of the game put the Vikings up 74-63 with 2:52 on the clock.
 
The Hawks would not give up and a Bing's fourth 3-point jumper of the game from the right elbow sliced the ECSU lead to 80-76 with 35.5 seconds left.  Chowan intentionally fouled Petteway twice and the senior calmly sank both ends of one-and-one chances with 33 and 11 seconds remaining to secure the victory.
 
With the score at 82-76 in the final minute, Byers blocked back-to-back long-range jump shot attempts on the left elbow in the same Hawk possession to help send Petteway to the line for the final time.  Senior guard Corey Mendez came up with a blocked shot on Chowans' next possession to seal the game.
 
Maynor drained three of his five first-half treys and scored 11 points during a 17-7 run which staked the Vikings to a 44-32 lead at the half.  With Maynor knocking down five of eight from long range and totaling 17 points, Vikings turned 13 Chowan turnovers into 18 points to shoot a solid 52.9% (18-34) from the floor for the first 20 minutes.
 
Each team made nine 3-pointers and nine free throws while splitting the rebounding totals 27-27.  Chowan shot 59.4% (19-32) in the second half only to be bettered by the Vikings who poured in 65.2% (15-23).
 
ECSU hosts Lincoln (PA) Wednesday in a CIAA doubleheader in the Vaughan Center.  The women's game tips off at 5:30 with the men following at 7:30.