BATON ROUGE, La. – North Carolina Central University held the lead for the majority of the contest, but Louisiana State University was able to capture the lead in the final five minutes and hold the Eagles for a 70-66 final at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
 
NCCU (6-5) was fast out of the gate, opening up a 27-14 lead over LSU (6-2), the Eagles first of two separate 13-point leads over the Tigers.  The Eagles shot 61 percent from the floor and made five of 10 three-point attempts to open up a 43-36 lead at the half.  Dajuan Graf (Charlotte, N.C.) was hot early for 13 points in the first half, and Patrick Cole (Newark, N.J.) pushed out seven assists for the Eagles as well.
 
LSU opened the second half on a 17-9 run, and used that to regain the lead over the Eagles with 12 minutes to play.  The lead changed hands multiple times in the second half, but after a tip-in from Will Ransom (Fort Worth, Texas) tied the game at 65 with four and a half minutes to go, LSU regained the advantage and kept it for the remainder of the contest.
 
Cole finished the game just shy of a second triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, good for his fifth double-double of the season.  Graf followed him with 18 points, and Ransom was close to a double-double himself with 10 points and eight boards.
 
 Antonio Blakeney (Sarasota, Fla.) put in a game-high 27 points as he made 11 buckets to lead the Tigers to the win.

The Eagles will stay in Louisiana to visit McNeese State on Saturday, Dec. 17 to close the three-game road swing.