Jan. 7, 2008
Final Stats
THE HERALD-SUN (www.HeraldSun.com)
Spartans hold off Eagles
By MIKE POTTER : mpotter@heraldsun.com
Jan 8, 2008
NORFOLK, Va. -- It was close to being an historic occasion for N.C. Central.
And if Norfolk State hadn't gotten its best player on the free-throw line in the closing seconds, the Eagles might have gotten their first road win as a Division I men's basketball team.
As it was, Tony Murphy hit a pair of free throws with 6.7 seconds left to lock up an 87-83 victory for the Spartans and deny the Eagles an emotional comeback victory Monday night at Echols Hall.
But it came on a night when NCCU's two leaders may have played the best game of their careers.
Charles Futrell led NCCU with a career-high 34 points, 11 more than he had registered Saturday during the Eagles' 79-62 loss at East Carolina. And junior guard Bryan Ayala -- a Granby High graduate playing in his hometown for the first time in his college career -- went 6-of-7 from 3-point range to match his season high of 26 points and added seven rebounds and seven assists. Joshua Worthy chipped in 11 points for NCCU (1-20).
"It's like I'm singing the same song all the time," said NCCU coach Henry Dickerson, a long-ago former assistant coach at Granby's rival Maury who was in his 250th game as a college head coach (112-138). "But we did play better than we played against East Carolina.
"If we get a couple of shots to go and a couple of calls, one of these games is going to go our way. Nobody can guard [Futrell], but he still needs to pick up his defense. B.A. had a great homecoming game. He didn't force any shots tonight."
Murphy and Corey Lyons each scored 22 points to lead five players in double figures for Norfolk State. Brandon Monroe and Raphael Hall added 11 points each for Norfolk, while Rashid Cann chipped in 10.
"I think we played well in spurts," said Norfolk coach Anthony Evans, whose team is 4-8 including 2-0 at home. "Any win we get is a good win. [NCCU] played great tonight. They've got two really good scorers, and they played us really well defensively.
"We took a while to recognize the triangle-and-two they were playing on Tony and Corey."
This was the teams' first meeting since 1997, when both schools belonged to the CIAA. Norfolk State, which leads the series 26-7, was the first Historically Black College the Eagles had played this season.
The Eagles got season highs in free throws made (18) field-goal percentage (51.9) and 3-pointers (9-for-19). Norfolk shot 51.7 percent, outrebounded the Eagles 31-26 and committed 21 turnovers to NCCU's 23.
"It hurts because I wanted to win this one so bad," Ayala said. "We got down early, but we picked up the pace later on. [Futrell] played a great game, and we got some good contributions from Josh and J'Mell [Walters]. It was great to get to play in front of so many people I know, but it hurts."
Norfolk State led by as many as 18 points, 49-31 on a Lyons dunk with 1:05 left in the half and had a 51-37 advantage at the break.
NCCU had an 8-0 run early in the second half, trimming the lead to 59-54 when Monroe was called for goaltending on a Walters layup with 4:13 left in the game.
The Spartans responded with a run, leading 77-64 on a Vickers follow shot with 6:29 showing.
But the Eagles refused to go away quietly. Futrell had six points and Worthy five each during a 15-2 run, with a pair of Futrell free throws giving NCCU an 81-79 advantage with 1:22 showing before the comeback unraveled.
"It's hard talking about moral victories," Futrell said. "We wanted to get a win so bad for [Ayala]. We played better than we did against ECU, and if we keep playing this well, we're going to win some games."
Lyons hit the front end of a one-and-one with 1:01 showing. Then after Walters was called for an offensive foul at 52.9, Michael Deloatch put the Spartans ahead for good on a drive to the basket with :32 left.
Murphy added two free throws at 22.9 for an 84-81 Norfolk lead. And after Worthy's layup from Walters cut the margin to a point with 14.3 remaining. Deloatch then added the back end of a two-shot opportunity, and with 6.7 seconds left Murphy -- an 80.8 percent shooter on the season who went 7-for-7 on Monday, locked up the result.
NOTES -- NCCU's next game is Wednesday at N.C. State at 7 p.m. in another historic first meeting. The Eagles' next game after that is at home on Jan. 16 against MEAC member Coppin State. ... Norfolk State hosts Coppin State on Saturday night. ... The Spartans will be in Raleigh for the MEAC Tournament, which will be held March 11-15 at the RBC Center.
