CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The Chowan University Hawks ranked No. 5 in the northern division of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) went down fighting against the No. 6 ranked southern division ranked St. Augustine’s University Falcons on Tuesday, 79-73.

Playing in the 69th Annual Men’s (CIAA) Basketball Tournament at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, the Hawks – after leading briefly in the first half 9-4 in the opening minutes of the game – fell behind at the 14:31 mark and by half-time were down 30-40.

Not throwing in the towel, the Hawks’ Tiron Brown connected on a 3-point basket to close the score to 58-59 with 8:02 remaining in the game. The Hawks kept the score close, but by 4:08 the Falcons were up 64-72. The Hawks closed the score again to 70-72 with 2:54 remaining in the game following a basket and a foul free-throw shot by Ashante Ross. With 12 remaining in the game, Phoenix Butler-Poole closed the score to 73-76. Forced to foul at that point, the Falcons dropped in three points from the free-throw line to seal the win.

Chowan coach Brett Vincent remarked during the post-game briefing that they had tried to focus on keeping their key offensive player from scoring, but added the Hawks just didn’t shoot well.

The Hawks Tigers had three players in double figures. They were: Phoenix Butler-Poole with 31 points; Ashante Ross with 14 points; and Kyree Bethel with 10 points.