Dec. 19, 2007

Final Stats

BOWLING GREEN, KY - Western Kentucky University scored the first 12 points against North Carolina Central University and cruised to an 84-53 victory over the visiting Eagles inside the E.A. Diddle arena in Bowling Green, Ky. Tuesday night.

NCCU (1-13) did not light the scoreboard until freshman center Marius Vaskys hit a short jumper at the 15:13 mark. The Eagles did not reach double figures in the scoring column until junior guard Ashton Sauls nailed a jumper at 5:43 to make the score 30-11.

WKU (8-3) scored 23 points off of 15 first-half turnovers by the Eagles, as the Hilltoppers took a 38-18 cushion into the locker room.

After intermission, NCCU's J'Mell Walters and Joshua Worthy connected on back-to-back triples to narrow the deficit to 41-26 at 16:36 of the second half. WKU answered the Eagles' charge as junior guard Orlando Mendez-Valdez started and ended a 10-0 run with three-pointers to increase the Hilltoppers' advantage to 51-26 at 13:51, putting the game out of reach.

NCCU senior forward Charles Futrell posted team-highs of 15 points and nine rebounds, while Sauls added 14 points for the Eagles.

WKU had four Toppers score double-figures, led by Courtney Lee with 16 points.

"We really battled tonight," said NCCU head coach Henry Dickerson. "We hustled to rebounds, dove for loose balls and worked really hard. I think our effort tonight was better than in any other game this season. I am really proud of our guys."

NCCU travels to Nebraska to play Creighton University on Thursday (Dec. 20), followed by the University of Nebraska on Saturday (Dec. 22).