ELIZABETH CITY – The University of Mount Olive men's basketball team battled back from a double-digit first-half deficit but could not complete the comeback, falling 72–67 to Elizabeth City State on Tuesday afternoon at the R.L. Vaughan Center.

The Vikings built an early cushion behind efficient first-half shooting, taking a 37–25 lead into the break. Mount Olive responded with a strong second half, outscoring Elizabeth City State 42–35, but the Trojans were unable to regain the lead in the final minutes.

Dante Kiesenhofer led Mount Olive with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting while adding seven rebounds. Jaevian Alston followed with 13 points and 11 rebounds, recording a double-double. Matt Kirby chipped in 11 points, while Christian Ananaba and Redford Dunton added seven.

Mount Olive used second-chance opportunities and bench production to stay within striking distance, holding advantages in second-chance points (17–7) and bench scoring (43–13). The Trojans also matched the Vikings in points in the paint, 36–36, and finished with a slight rebounding edge, 38–36.

The Trojans cut the deficit to two with just over four minutes remaining and tied the game at 58 with 3:49 to play on a layup by Dante Kiesenhofer in the paint on a beautiful pass by Shane Peterson, but Elizabeth City State answered with timely baskets down the stretch and sealed the game at the free-throw line.

Mount Olive will look to build on its strong second-half performance against Emmanuel on Jan. 3 at 4pm at Princeton High School.