MURFREESBORO – According to defending CIAA champion Elizabeth City State basketball coach Shawn Walker his Vikings have had 24 three-point field goal attempts in a game before.

They’ve just never made 14 of ‘em when they have.

With 11 treys in the second half, ECSU won their second of three games in their series with the Chowan University Hawks.

The latest win coming Tuesday night before the largest home crowd of the season, 630 strong, as the Vikings prevailed 78-67.

“I think our zone made them shoot more threes,” sighed Hawks coach Jim Tribbett after the game.

“We tried to shut down (Fayetteville junior Anthony) Hilliard, and make other people beat us, but when he kicked it outside, that’s exactly what happened.”

Hilliard was one of four ECSU players scoring in double figures with eleven points; and he also had a double-double with 13 rebounds.

Chris Kenon led Chowan’s scoring with 13, while Raul Tutelea and Jaleel Nelson had 11 each.

The game was tight for the first five minutes of the first half, but thanks in part to three Chowan three-pointers n two by Kenon n the Hawks moved out to a 21-15 lead.

A pair of Charles Rhodes free throws and a Tutelea jumper and Chowan had their biggest lead of the night at ten points, 25-15, midway thru the half.

Chowan led 32-23 with just under seven minutes to go in the half when the Vikings began to mount a comeback.

With two of Chowan’s front-line players in foul trouble, Hilliard scored a pair of quick buckets inside and a Matt Nowlin three-pointer had trimmed the lead to two with under three minutes to play.

But a Kenon jump shot and a free throw by Montino Williams had Chowan up by five at the break, 35-30.

The Vikings quickly erased that lead in the first two minutes of the second half and, after a Nowlin three-pointer only trailed by one, 37-36.

Two minutes later Lando Morrison brought the Hawks back to a tie at 39-39, but Chowan never led again.

They would cut it to one-point three more times but trailing 49-48 the Hawks couldn’t get stops, and ECSU went on an 11-2 run to lead, 60-50.

Chowan cut it to seven twice more, the last time on a Tutelea jump shot in the lane, but that was as close as the Hawks could come.

The Vikings at one point made four of five three-point attempts, built a lead of as much as 15 twice in the last five minutes before Chowan’s late rally fell short and the Hawks’d lost two in a row for only the second time this season.

“We knew what they were capable from beyond the arc,” said Kenon,

“but we should’ve played defense a little harder.”

“They beat us on the boards pretty handily in the second half,” said a disappointed Layth Mansour (the Vikings outrebounded the Hawks, 39-32).

“By pounding us inside it got them back in the game.”

“We’ve got eleven guys back (from the ‘07 championship team),” said Vikings coach Walker, “and while they sometimes let teams back into the game, they held on tonight.”

Chowan falls to 7-11 and are back at the Helms Center Saturday for a 2:00 tip-off against Newport News Apprentice.

Elizabeth City State is 10-4.