Nov. 17, 2007

Final Stats |  Notes

FARGO, N.D. - North Carolina Central University's first trip to North Dakota proved disappointing.

The Bison stampeded to an early lead and never looked back, dropping the Eagles 104-51 inside the Bison Sports Arena in Fargo, N.D.

NDSU (2-2), in its final year of the transition to Division I, had five players score in double figures. Junior guards Ben Woodside and Mike Nelson led the way with 18 points each, followed by Brett Winkelman with 17 points, Josh Vaughn with 12 points and Michael Tveidt with 11.

NCCU (0-4), in its first year of the transition to Division I, was topped by the team's lone senior Charles Futrell with 12 points and nine rebounds. Junior transfer Ashton Sauls came off the Eagles' bench for 11 points and three assists.

The Eagles shot a season-low 28.1 percent (16-for-57) from the field, while the Bison connected on 48.6 percent (34-of-70) of their shots. NDSU out-rebounded the visitors 51-33 and committed only seven turnovers to NCCU's 20.

"I think the travel got to us," said NCCU head coach Henry Dickerson, whose squad has traveled to New Jersey, Florida and North Dakota in six days. "We didn't have any legs and we were a step behind tonight."

North Dakota State jumped out to a 25-8 lead, then pushed the cushion to as much as 38 points (56-18) on a three-pointer by Woodside with 1:19 left in the opening stanza.

The story of the first half was the foul situation. The host Bison were shooting the double-bonus at the 9:46 mark with the fouls at 10-2. That grew to 14-2 with 6:20 left and was 16-5 at the break. NDSU shot 11-of-19 from the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes, compared to just 1-for-1 for the visiting Eagles. More importantly for NCCU, the team's leading scorer, Bryan Ayala (20.0 points per game), picked up his fourth personal foul at the 3:19 mark of the first half and was forced to the bench. He did not return to the game and finished with five points.

NCCU trailed 56-21 at intermission, the Eagles largest halftime deficit (35 points) of the season. NDSU shot 59.4 percent (19-32) from the floor in the first half, compared to just 30.0 percent (9-30) by the Eagles.

"They are well-coached and they play hard," Dickerson said about Saul Phillips' team. "They know their roles. Their guard (Woodside) is their catalyst and everyone feeds off of him."

NCCU will arrive back to the Triangle just before midnight on Sunday, then travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. on Monday for a 7 p.m. tipoff with Wake Forest University.