Box Score
MURFREESBORO, NC – Nothing came easy and it wasn't pretty, but the Livingstone men's basketball team scored a big conference road victory Thursday, 72-63, over the Chowan University Hawks.
The victory improved Livingstone's record to 7-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference while Chowan fell to 1-13 overall and 0-6 in the CIAA.
Livingstone and Chowan both had trouble putting points on the scoreboard in the first half. The Blue Bears were able to jump out to an early 7-2 lead and increased it to an 11-4 advantage with just under five minutes gone in the opening period.
Chowan fought back to get within two at 14-12 with 10:24 left before Livingstone went on a 10-0 run to open up a 24-12 lead with 6:56 left. Trailing by 12, the Hawks took a timeout. Out of the break and in the final 6:26 of the first half, Chowan outscored the Blue Bears 13-5 and cut the Livingstone lead to only four points at 29-25 at the half.
The Blue Bears were able to pull away slightly to start the second half, grabbing a 38-30 lead just over three minutes into the half. Nearly five minutes later the Hawks had gotten within four at 40-36 before the Blue Bears went on a 12-0 run to open up a 52-36 advantage with 9:31 left.
After the Livingstone run, the Hawks made a strong run of their own, getting within eight points with 5:15 left before Aaron Wilson knocked down a big three-pointer to end the Hawk rally. The Blue Bears struggled at the charity stripe in the final minutes, but Livingstone's lead was ultimately too much for the Hawks to overcome.
Livingstone shot 50 percent from the field for the game including 27.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Blue Bears again struggled at the free-throw line, converting only 65.8 percent of their attempts. Chowan hit 33.8 percent, but struggled from long range hitting only one of 20 three-point attempts.
The Blue Bears had trouble handling the ball as they committed 24 turnovers which turned into 25 Hawk points. Chowan also dominated in the paint outscoring the Blue Bears 38-22 down low.
Livingstone will stay away from home on Saturday when it heads south to Charlotte, NC to take on the Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls at 7:30 p.m.
