Senior guard Antonio Fitzgerald (Danville, VA) scored 23 points and senior guard-forward Nicholas King (Philadelphia, PA) added 21 points and 10 rebounds as Saint Augustine's College downed Elizabeth City State 84-74 on Tuesday, January 16, 2007, for its eighth straight victory in a key contest between CIAA contenders.

Senior guard-forward Claude Neeley (Tallahassee, FL) added 17 points for the Falcons (11-4, 7-2 CIAA), who are 10-1 when scoring 70 or more points. The Falcons' trio offset the scoring of Elizabeth City State's C.J. Pigford, who led all scorers with 29 points and also pulled down nine rebounds. Anthony Hilliard added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Vikings (7-6, 4-3 CIAA).

The contest was the last of 11 straight road games for the Falcons, who posted a 9-2 record during that stretch including victories over CIAA opponents in their last five contests. The victory over Elizabeth City State was impressive considering both teams are expected to contend for the CIAA crown. The Falcons are preseason Western Division favorites while the Vikings are picked fourth in the tough Eastern Division.

Last season, the Falcons tied Johnson C. Smith for the best Western Division record, but the Vikings stunned the Falcons 84-73 in a CIAA Tournament quarterfinal game. On Tuesday, the Falcons gained a measure of revenge in what was expected to be a tight ballgame.

The Vikings raced to a 14-0 lead before the Falcons settled down. The Falcons came back but the Vikings led 39-34 at halftime. There were four ties and four lead changes in the second half, but the Falcons took the lead for good 59-58 on Fitzgerald's layup at the 11-minute mark.

The lead extended to nine points at 6:44 on senior center Jeff Sullivan's (Carrolton, AL) layup off a Fitzgerald pass. In the last minute, Fitzgerald made eight consecutive free throws, blocked a shot and grabbed a defensive rebound to seal the win.

In addition to scoring 23 points including 10 of 13 free throws, Fitzgerald handed out six assists and grabbed six rebounds at the guard position. Sullivan added seven points and nine rebounds as the Falcons made 20 of 31 free throws compared to 8 of 12 for the Vikings.
The Falcons shot 52 percent in the second half as they scored 50 points, the second-highest amount in the second half for the Falcons this season. For the contest, the Falcons outrebounded the Vikings 47-38.
After a long road stretch, the Falcons host CIAA crosstown rival Shaw on Saturday, January 20, 2007, in a home game scheduled at Broughton High School's Holliday Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. At halftime of the contest, the Falcons' 1997 CIAA Men's Basketball Championship team will be honored.