ELIZABETH CITY, North Carolina – The Blue Bears got off to a slow start as Elizabeth City took a nine-point lead midway through the first half in Thursday evening's game in R.L. Vaughan Center. Livingstone College defeated Elizabeth City State University in their third consecutive conference win.

The Blue Bears improve to (7-6, 3-1) in the season, while Elizabeth City State University drops to (5-9, 0-4). 

Livingstone was led by Khyree Temple with 23 points. Pharoah Lassiter finished with 18 points. 

De'Marr McCrae finished 12 points. 

Elizabeth City State University was paced by Jaquantae Harris with 20 points. Amadou Faye followed with 14 points. 

Khyree Temple went in for a layup to cut the Viking's lead to two with 3:14 left in the first half, 32-30. A good free throw by Detionne Leach tied the game up at 34-34 with one minute left in the first half. The Blue Bears took the lead right before halftime with another layup by Khyree Temple, 36-34. 

The Vikings Amadou Faye tied it up at 36-36 to begin the second half. The Blue Bears quickly took back the lead with a layup by Temple, 38-36. 

Jemez Herd gave the Blue Bears a 12-point lead at the eight-minute mark. The Vikings cut the Blue Bears' lead to two with 5:40 remaining in the half, 76-74. The Blue Bears held on to the lead for the remainder of the second half. Levar Allen scored the last point of the half at the free-throw line. 

Livingstone would end the game shooting 51.7% (31-of-60). Elizabeth City State would make 31-of-63 overall for 49.2 percent. 

The Vikings shot 88.2% from the free-throw line (15 out of 17). The Blue Bears went 64.9% from the free-throw line 24-of-37.

Elizabeth City State outrebounded Livingstone, 34-22.

The Blue Bears will travel to Shaw University Wednesday, January 11. The first tip is set for 8:00 p.m.