The Lincoln University men's basketball team fell behind early and struggled in the second half as they lost at Chowan University 96-76 Wednesday night in Murfreesboro, North Carolina.

The Lions fall to 6-13 overall and 5-5 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association games.  Chowan improves to 12-5 overall and 6-3 in league games,

Joshua Davis (Saginaw, MI/Louisburg Junior College) led the Lions with 20 points while grabbing seven rebounds.  Malachi Seney (Philadelphia, Pa./Harford Community College) and Sean James (Newark, Del./Iona College) added 11 points apiece and Carlton Allen (Trenton, N.J./Manhattan College) led the team with eight rebounds.

Chowan placed five players in double figures led by Jeremy Smith's 25 points.  Marco Haskins added 20 points. Joe Goodwin added 16 points and a team-high six rebounds. Carlos Arroyo led the team with nine assists.

Four lead changes highlighted the first five minutes of play before a 17-2 uprising from Chowan erased a slim three-point Lion lead and put the host team up by ten 27-17 with just under nine minutes remaining in the period.  The Hawks built the lead to as high as 14 before the Lions scored the final six points of the period to close the gap to eight 46-38 at the half. 

Davis extended the Lions run to 11 straight points at the start of the second half, scoring the first five Lions points and cutting the Hawks lead to three at 46-43.  Chowan followed with a 7-0 spurt to boost their lead back up to double digits.  Lincoln cut the deficit in half with an 11-6 flourish to trail 59-54 with 12:07 left and still trailed by six at the midway point of the half when Chowan unleashed a 15-5 uprising to take control of the game with a 16-point lead 79-63 with 5:34 left in the game.  The Lions would only get as close as 13 the rest of the way as the Hawks expanded their lead to as 22 before settling in for the 20-point win.

Statistically speaking, both teams shot extremely well, (LU 53.3%; CU- 52.5%) with the Hawks taking 14 more shots and making seven more field goals (31-24).  Chowan outscored the Lions 21-6 from beyond the arc, with seven three point goals to LU's two.   Both team were about even from the free throw line with the Lions making 26 of 33 (78.8%) and the Hawks 27 of 31 (87.1%).  The Lions held a slim 28-26 edge on the glass but committed twice as many turnovers (16-8) than the Hawks.

Lincoln returns to action on Saturday, January 28, 2017 when they face Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia.  Tipoff is at 4:00 p.m.