ELIZABETH CITY, NC- The Vikings captured a tough win in the final seconds of action Monday night defeating the Rams of Winston-Salem State on the road 69-68.

The Vikings improve to 10-6 overall on the season, 3-3 in the CIAA

Senior forward Joseph Allen (Miami Gardens, Fl) led the charge for the Vikings on both ends of the floor capturing his seventh double-double of the season reeling in 15 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Junior forward Shykeef Daniels (Greenville, NC) followed up with 14 points; while junior guard duo Zaccheus Hobbs (Maysville, NC) contributed 12 points and Justin Faison (Waldorf, Md) closed out the Vikings double-digit scoring spread with 11 points.
 
Robert Colon fueled the Rams offensively with 25 points.
 
ECSU shot 48.1 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from behind the arc, and 57.1 percent at the line.
 
WSSU shot 48.9 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from behind the arc, and 76.5 percent at the line. 
 
The Rams jumped out in front of the Vikings early starting the game on a 10-2 run.

23 points from the Vikings bench paced by Daniels who scored the basket and made several key defensive plays in the first half kept the Vikings within striking distance.
 
Fighting from behind, a three-pointer from senior guard Destin Dunton (Panama City, Fl) made it a one-possession game with 20 secs left in the first stanza.
 
The Vikings trailed the Rams 34-31 at halftime.
 
Daniels opened up the second half of scoring with a momentum shifting three-pointer to tie the game at 34-all, but Dontae Caldwell answered back for the Rams with a three-pointer to reclaim the lead and spark a 12-4 WSSU run.
 
Down by eight with 10:07 left to play the Vikings had to tune out the atmosphere of the Gaines Center, get some stops defensively, and wake up on offense to stay in it.

ECSU patiently chipped away at the Ram's lead, but every time the Vikings closed the scoring gap the Ram's responded back. 
 
With 3:53 left to play a three-pointer by Dunton made it a one-point game, 64-63 WSSU.
 
Both teams exchanged baskets before back to back dunks from Tyjhai Byers (Bethesda, Md) and Allen gave the Vikings their first lead of the game 67-66 with 2:14 left to play.
 
Refusing to go down without a fight, WSSU's Colon went 2-of-2 at the line to snatch the lead back 68-67 with 1:53 left on the game clock.
 
The game came down to the final two possessions. Tyjhai Byers (Bethesda, Md) came up with the defensive rebound off Caldwell's missed three-point attempt and CIAA Offensive Player of the Week Justin Faison hit the game winning basket on the other end surrounded by three Rams with four seconds left in regulation to claim the 69-68 win.
 
The Vikings will be back in action on Thursday, January 16^th for part two of this matchup taking on the Rams in the makeup game from December. Tip-off is slated for 7p.m.