Raleigh, NC. – The Saint Augustine's men's basketball team followed up its CIAA home-opening loss with a bounce back victory over the Elizabeth City State Vikings. The Falcons got off to a strong start and took a 31-23 lead into the half. The Vikings were able to chip away at the lead and at the 10:03 mark, eventually took the lead 39-38. The two teams battled back and forth with the Vikings extending its lead to four with 4:03 to go. The Falcons fought back with a big-time 3-pointer by Joshua Johnson to bring the Falcons within one, 50-49. With :39 to go in regulation and down by one, true freshman, Nemo Johnson made one of two free throws to tie the game, and send the game to overtime.
In overtime, the Falcons seized control as Joshua Johnson sparked the offense with a 3, and Jaylen Richard nailed 8 consecutive free throws to close the game.
The Falcons were led by Jaylen Richard with 21 points, Christopher Hill with 15, and Nemo Johnson had a double-double with 14 points and 18 rebounds.
Head Coach Chucky Brown's Postgame Comments
"I thought we played with a lot of energy. We came out and were aggressive. In the second half we struggled to get a bucket, but we had enough of a cushion -- that -- they struggled a little bit too to get a bucket, but they did get the lead. But I just thought we played with great energy, and we never quit, we never gave up. We kept fighting. Then when we got down and were struggling to score, we kept fighting, and I thought that our bench came in and did a great job of keeping things going."
TEAM STATS
- The Falcons are now 4-7 on the season
- SAU made 19-25 free throws on the night (76%)
- The Falcons held the Vikings leading scorer, Jaden Flournoy to one point
- SAU's bench scored 50 points, and outscored its counterparts by 18 (50-32)
- Jaylen Richard and Chris Hill have scored double-figures in back-to-back games
UP NEXT
- The Falcons will travel to Bowie State on Thursday, Jan. 5
- Tipoff is set for 7:30 PM ET
For all the latest information on the team, follow SAUHOOPS on Twitter. General athletic news can be found @SAUFalcons on Twitter.
