Eagles Stay Perfect, Hold Off Bears 69-61
Junior Justin Black paced the Bears with 20 points at N.C. Central on Monday night.

Eagles Stay Perfect, Hold Off Bears 69-61

1/28/2013 9:57:00 PM

Box Score DURHAM, N.C. -- Ray Willis and North Carolina Central did just enough to send the Bears back to Charm City with a loss.
 
Willis scored 19 points, including 8 of 10 from the free throw line, and the Eagles withstood a late run by Morgan State to come away with a 69-61 victory.
 
The Eagles won their seventh consecutive game and improved their record to 13-7 overall and 6-0 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
 
Justin Black (20 pts) and Anthony Hubbard (20 pts) combined for 40 points but it was the Bears free throw shooting that turned out to be the main difference in deciding tonight's contest.
 
Morgan State (6-11, 3-3 MEAC), who entered the ballgame ranked No. 339 (59.1 pct) in free throw shooting, had one of its worst performances from the stripe tonight. The Bears converted 15 of 32 free throws, including 3 of 10 in the final four minutes of the game.
 
On the flip side, NCCU, the league's top free throw shooting team, connected on 26 of 33 from the stripe and hit a few free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
 
Black outscored the Eagles 7-2 to open up the second half and his 3-point play with 17:36 left trimmed NCCU's lead to 44-38.
 
Black sparked a 13-5 run by the Bears and a 3-pointer by Hubbard cut the Eagles lead to 52-49 at the 9:44 mark.
 
The Eagles responded Emanuel Chapman (9 pts) hit a jumper and Karmo Jawara hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 56-49. But the Bears once again battled back. Ian Chiles (7 pts, 8 rebs) scored on a jumper and followed it with a dunk that cut NCCU's lead to 56-53 with 7:25 left in the ballgame.
 
NCCU seemed to regain the momentum when Chapman tossed an alley-oop to Stanton Kidd for a one-handed dunk to fire up the crown and give the Eagles a 62-54 advantage.
 
Morgan State outscored the Eagles 7-0 during a 3-minute stretch, and when Chiles split a pair of free throws the Bears trailed 64-61 with 1:30 remaining. 
 
On NCCU's next possession Stanton Kidd made basket and was fouled by Chiles to push lead back to 66-61. It turned out being just enough of a cushion for the Eagles to pull away in the end.
 
DeWayne Jackson, who led the Bears with 12 points in the first half, was held scoreless in the second half.
 
The Eagles made a concerted effort to crash the glass against the larger Bears and ended up outrebounding Morgan State by a 30-28 margin.
 
The Eagles took a 42-31 lead into the lockerroom.
 
Bear Notes
 
The difference in the ballgame was at the free throw line and on the bench.
 
NCCU and scored 29 points off of 18 Bears turnovers, and outscored the Bears bench by a 13-2 margin. 

Morgan State shot 45 percent from the field, while NCCU shot 47 percent

Anthony Hubbard's 20 points (6-10 FG) was a season-high 



Print Friendly Version