Falcons Fall To Elizabeth City State 77-75 In Men's Basketball

Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. - Quincy January (So./Atlanta, GA) recorded 23 points and 11 rebounds for Saint Augustine's University, but the Falcons lost a nail-biter 77-75 to Elizabeth City State University in a CIAA men's basketball contest at Emery Gymnasium on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015.

The double-double was the fifth in six games for January, last season's CIAA Rookie of the Year. He was 5-for-9 from the field and 13-for-14 from the free throw line. Keith Crawford (Sr./Richmond, VA) added 16 points and Anthony Gaskins (Jr./Greenville, NC) scored 14 points for the Falcons (5-6 overall, 0-2 CIAA). D.J. Chamblee (Fr./Greensboro, NC) contributed eight points and eight rebounds.

Gaskins scored 12 points and January added 10 points in the first half to help the Falcons build a 41-32 halftime lead. The Falcons stayed ahead until the 5:19 mark of the second half when James Theus canned a three-pointer to put the Vikings in front for the first time 65-64. DeCarlos Anderson added another three-pointer for a four-point Vikings' lead, but January answered with a three-point play to pull the Falcons within 68-67 with 2:51 left.

The Falcons regained the lead 69-68 on January's tip-in, but it would be their last. The Vikings outscored the Falcons 9-6 in the final two minutes to pull off the comeback. Crawford hit a three to close the deficit to 75-73 with eight seconds remaining, but Miykael Faulcon made two free throws to push the Vikings' lead to four.

Gaskins scored quickly to pull the Falcons back within two points. A missed free throw with 1.8 seconds left gave the Falcons one last gasp, but Chamblee's desperation heave was short as the horn sounded.

Despite the defeat, there were several positives for the Falcons in the contest. They scored 22 points off 16 Viking turnovers and outrebounded their opponent on the offensive glass 18-15 which led to a 17-11 edge in second chance points. The Falcons also made 26 of 35 free throw attempts for a season-high 74.3 percent.

Their statistical advantages could not offset the hot shooting of the Vikings behind the arc. One of the CIAA's top three-point shooting teams, the Vikings canned 11 of 22 attempts for 50 percent including 6-for-11 in the second half. Overall, the Vikings shot 53.6 percent from the field in the second half while the Falcons made 37.9 percent of their shots.

Anderson led the Vikings (3-5 overall, 1-1 CIAA) with 16 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting. Faulcon scored 12 points and Clayton Cowell chipped in 11 points.

The Falcons will attempt to regroup from the loss when they host Chowan University at Emery Gymnasium on Saturday, Dec. 19. Tip-off is 4 p.m. for the home game, which is the third in five days for the Falcons.

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