BOX SCORE

DURHAM, N.C. – The top of the Eagles lineup shined for the North Carolina Central University men's tennis team in a 5-2 home loss to Liberty University on Friday afternoon at the NCCU Tennis Courts.
 
The Eagles won the No. 1 doubles showdown and the top two singles matches.
 
The Flames were able to move over .500 by taking the other two doubles matches and the bottom four singles tilts in straight sets. Liberty improved to 4-3 overall.
 
Sophomore Gabriel Cucalon notched wins in both of his bouts for the maroon and gray.
 
Cucalon teamed up with freshman Maksym Konovalov for a hard-fought 7-6 win in the marquee doubles match with a 7-2 tiebreaker victory. It marked the first win for the NCCU duo.
 
The Eagles two team points came on courts one and two, respectively, by Cucalon and freshman Theofanis Kontopoulos.
 
Cucalon, who hails from Ecuador, toppled fellow sophomore Eddie Gutierrez by a 6-3, 6-2 margin. The victory comes against an all-conference honoree from the Big South Conference for Cucalon. Gutierrez slipped to 5-2 on the season.
 
Kontopoulos, who is from Greece, needed a little more work in his 7-5, 6-2 triumph over corresponding rookie Chase Burton, who still holds a winning individual record of 4-3.
 
Cucalon and Kontopoulos lead the Eagles with matching 2-3 singles records.
 
Freshman Brooks Campbell battled hard in his No. 6 singles match before being edged 7-6 (3), 7-5 by Liberty sophomore Max Borcuti.
 
NCCU returns to action on Friday, Feb. 24 when the Eagles will play two matches in Maryland against Coppin State University (12 p.m. in Baltimore) and Loyola University (6:30 p.m. in Lutherville).