The North Greenville Crusaders increased their winning streak to three with an 83-81 victory over the Chowan Hawks to begin conference play in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. An impressive 58.1 field goal percentage in the first half allowed NGU to take a 47-37 lead into halftime. Both teams shot well in the second half, and although Chowan was able to close the gap and even take the lead, the Crusaders were able to close out the game on top. Jalon Cokley led in points with 23, and was just short of a double-double with 8 rebounds. DJ Brooks also had a solid game, scoring 21 points.

A slow start by North Greenville allowed the Hawks to jump out to a 7-0 lead. A fast break jump shot by Mason Zick put the Crusaders on the board three minutes into the half. After a made free throw by Chowan, North Greenville would come to life with an impressive 13-0 run that included a dunk by Jalon Cokley. Just past the ten minute mark, a three pointer by Chowan tied things up at 21-21. The Crusaders followed that up with a seven point run. After the Hawks were able to cut their deficit down to three, NGU took the momentum back with a 14-0 run that included four three pointers. North Greenville led by as much as fifteen, but CU ended the half with five straight points to make the score 47-37 going into halftime.

Chowan was once again able to get off to a nice start in the second half, scoring the first four points to cut the deficit to six. The scoring would go back and forth for several minutes, but red hot shooting by NGU from three point range increased the lead to thirteen with just over ten minutes remaining. Chowan would spend the next several minutes putting together an eleven point run to lead 75-74 with four minutes left. Points would go back and forth yet again to result in an 80-80 tie. With just over thirty second remaining, a huge three pointer by Cokley put the Crusaders back up by three. A missed three pointer by Chowan was rebounded by Joe Conley, forcing the Hawks to foul with less than ten seconds remaining. Both teams would end up getting opportunities at the free throw line, but missed free throws by both teams kept the status quo. Down by two with just two seconds left, CU was given one last chance to tie the game with free throws. However, both would be missed, and the Crusaders would grab the rebound as time expired to hang on for the win. 

Up next, NGU will head to Central, South Carolina to take on the Warriors of Southern Wesleyan University on Tuesday, November 26th.