Balanced scoring lifts Chowan over North Greenville

Published 9:04 am Thursday, January 26, 2023

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TIGERVILLE, SC – Five Hawks scored in double-figures as the Chowan men’s basketball team defeated North Greenville, 79-64, here Monday in Conference Carolinas action.

Christian Koonce led the way with 14 points. Daylan Askew (13), Jay Estime (12), RJ Wilson (11), and Preston Le Gassick (10) also scored in double-figures.

Chowan capitalized on points off turnovers (21) and second chance points (20).

Chowan found their shooting touch early in this game as Askew drained a pair of three-pointers, Wilson added a trey and a deuce and Koonce connected from deep to highlight an offensive surge that allowed the Hawks to build a 24-12 lead.

NGU rallied with a 7-0 run over the next three minutes before Wilson ended the scoreless streak with a triple. NGU continued to chip away, pulling to within 28-25. Koonce connected from deep but the Crusaders would answer at the other en. Estime found the stroke from deep before Isaac Hippolyte hit a jumper to push the lead to 36-30. Estime would connect again from deep following an offensive rebound by Koonce to give the Hawks a 39-30 halftime advantage.

It took Chowan nearly four minutes to score their first basket of the second half, but North Greenville also struggled to find the bottom of the basket.

Koonce hit a jumper for the first basket of the half. Askew finished off a three-point play to push the advantage to 45-30. Askew added a pair from the stripe along with a three-point play by Veigar Alexandersson to stretch the lead to 50-33.

Skyler Davies connected from the floor before Estime hit a triple that forced a NGU timeout with 12:39 remaining. Davies tacked on a pair from the stripe along with Chieck Traore going 1-2 from the stripe that allowed Chowan to stretch their lead to 58-39. That advantage reached 20 points (66-46) highlighted by a triple from Le Gassick plus a basket and two free throws by Wilson.

Chowan (9-8 overall; 7-5 in league play) hits the road to take on Emmanuel in Franklin Springs, GA on Saturday, Jan. 28. Tip-off is slated for 4 pm.