Box Score

ELIZABETH CITY, NC – The Livingstone men's basketball dropped their second conference game of the season Monday as they fell to the Elizabeth City State University Vikings 79-70.

Senior guard Aaron Caruthers and sophomore forward Greg Henry each led the Blue Bears with 19 points while senior forward Jarred Stockton turned in a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards.

The Blue Bears found themselves in a very physical contest right from the start.  Elizabeth City took the early lead, but Livingstone held tough.  Each time the Blue Bears were able to cut the Viking lead to one or two the Vikings quickly pumped it back up.  Mid-way through the first half the Blue Bears trailed by two at 15-13.

Elizabeth City's largest lead of eight came with 5:50 to play in the first half, but an 8-2 Livingstone run got the Blue Bears back within two at 27-25 with 3:20 on the clock.  The two-point deficit was short-lived as the Vikings went on a 10-5 run over the last 2:50 of the half to grab a seven-point halftime lead.

Sophomore forward Greg Henry led the Blue Bears with 11 points and was tied for the lead in rebounds with four.  Senior center Keith Darden was in foul trouble for most of the first half and only played eight minutes, scoring zero points.

The second half started rough for the Blue Bears as their deficit increased to nine points just over four minutes into the half.  Trailing by nine, the Blue Bears rattled off a 13-2 run to regain a two-point advantage with 9:33 to play in the game. 

The game stayed close for the next three minutes and Livingstone trailed by three with 4:30 play.  Elizabeth City turned in a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to open a double-digit lead.  The deficit was too much for the Blue Bears to overcome late in the contest and Elizabeth City took the victory 79-70.

As a team the Blue Bears shot 43.3 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from beyond the three-point arc.  The Blue Bears took the rebound battled 47-44, but turned the ball over 10 more times than did the Vikings leading to 23 Viking points.

With the loss the Blue Bears fell to 5-2 in the CIAA and 7-4 overall while the Vikings improved to 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference.

The Blue Bear men will return home to face the Bowie State Bulldogs on Saturday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m.  The Blue Bears defeated the Bulldogs earlier this season 72-62.