ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - The SU men's basketball team advanced to its first USA South Tournament final since 1996 Friday night with a 69-66 victory over seventh seeded Chowan College.

No. 2 Shenandoah (16-9) trailed 39-34 at the break and by as many as nine before rallying for the victory. Chowan (11-15) had led as late as the 3:12 mark of the second half.

Junior Chris Rhone (Washington, D.C./Northwestern) proved once again why he was a first team All-USA South pick in the comeback victory. Rhone had a game high 24 points, including 16 in the second half to bring his club back. 

Sophomore Kenny Purnell (Baltimore, Md./Lake Clifton) was the only other SU scorer in double figures with 16 points, but his biggest contribution came on defense. For the second straight meeting with the Braves, Purnell held the USA South's leading scorer, Trayvon Lathan, under his season average. Lathan had 16 points in the losing effort, nine of which came in the first half and none during the stretch run. In the Hornets win in Murfreesboro three weeks ago, Purnell held Lathan (a first team All-USA South pick and the USA South Rookie of the Year) to under 20 points for the first time in five games.

While the Hornets snuck out the victory for the second straight night, it appeared for most of the game that Chowan would pull off its second upset in as many days. CC took a 45-36 lead on a Lathan jumper with 16:15 remaining and held the lead at six points for another two minutes.

Shenandoah finally got itself back into the game by going on a 6-0 run from the 14:09 to 8:54 marks. Chowan answered with a 5-0 run of its own, but SU tied it again with a pair of Onyie Onunaku (Bristow, Va./Stonewall Jackson) free throws with 4:17 left.

One tick short of a minute later, Rhone nailed a jumper in the lane and the Hornets never trailed again. The Braves cut the deficit to one on two different occasions, but a 4 for 4 performance from the line ended any chances of a Chowan victory.

Roland Brown led CC with 20 points while Issac McCall had 13 points and 12 boards.

A complete box score and play by play can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/mb/200304/022704.htm

The finals take place Saturday at 4:00 at NC Wesleyan. The Hornets will face the winner of the No. 1 Methodist vs No. 5 NC Wesleyan contest.