BALTIMORE, Md. – There were 19 total three-pointers made between North Carolina Central University and Coppin State, but Ron Trapps (Lancaster, S.C.) led the way as he was a perfect 5-for-5 from downtown to help the Eagles to an 86-77 decision for an eighth-straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win at the Physical Education Complex on Monday, Feb. 6.
 
For the second game in a row NCCU (17-6, 8-1 MEAC) built up a strong lead in the first half as the maroon and gray went on a 15-0 run, hitting three consecutive treys by way of Trapps and Dajuan Graf (Charlotte, N.C.).
 
Trapps hit back-to-back triples, and after Graf's three Trapps went on to score another five consecutive points with two free throws, followed by another long-distance target.  Trapps went 4-for-4 in the first half – all threes – with two made free throws to have 14 points at the intermission. Trapps hit another three in the second half on his way to a career-high 18 points.
 
As a team, NCCU shot 59.3 percent from the floor and 53.8 from downtown, while holding CSU (5-20, 4-6 MEAC) to just 29.6 percent shooting and two made three-pointers out of 12 attempts, and NCCU led 42-27 at the half.
 
The second half followed a trend from the last game as well, as CSU took off on a 17-5 run to open the second half, and cut NCCU's lead down to just three at 47-44 with 13 minutes to play.  NCCU held strong to bend, but not break and responded with a 9-0 run to expand the lead back to double-digits with less than seven minutes to play.
 
CSU kept the game close in the late stages by drilling eight threes in the second half, but clutch free throw shooting from both Graf and Patrick Cole (Newark, N.J.) helped NCCU secure the win.
 
NCCU finished the game shooting 56 percent from the floor and 50 percent from downtown, while hitting 72 free throws.  Cole snagged a game-high 27 points with eight rebounds after scooping a layup as time expired to edge out his teammate Graf, who finished with 25 points and six boards, but both shared the game-high in assists with six.
 
Dejuan Clayton (Bowie, Md.) led CSU in scoring with 20 points and five assists, and Chas Brown (Baltimore, Md.) was an impact player with nine points and nine rebounds as well.
 
NCCU returns home for two games against South Carolina State and Florida A&M this Saturday and Monday, Feb. 11 and 13.