Feb. 19, 2008

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DURHAM, N.C. - North Carolina Central University rallied in the second half, but a poor first-half performance proved to be too much for the Eagles to overcome, as visiting Utah Valley University captured a 69-62 victory inside McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium in Durham, N.C. on Tuesday night.

Utah Valley junior guard Ryan Toolson led all scorers with 31 points, going 7-for 16 from the field, including a pair of three pointers, and a perfect 15-for-15 from the foul line. Senior forward Richard Troyer added 12 points and senior forward Jordan Brady posted a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Wolverines (13-14).

Four Eagles reached double figures in the scoring column, topped by senior forward Charles Futrell with 16 points and 11 boards for his fifth double-double of the season and the ninth of his two-year college career. Junior guard Bryan Ayala collected 14 points and six assists, junior guard Philip Branch knocked down four three-pointers and a free throw for 13 points, and junior guard J'Mell Walters tallied 10 points and a game-high seven assists for NCCU (3-24).

With the game tied at 13-13 with 10:42 left in the first half, Utah Valley scored 13 unanswered points during an 18-4 run to close out the opening stanza. The Wolverines took a 31-17 cushion into the locker room.

NCCU shot just 28 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play, including only 1-of-13 shooting from three-point range.

UVU's advantage grew to as much as 18 points in the second half when Toolson converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make the score 44-26 with 13:36 on the clock.

Behind a crowd of 2,134 fans, the Eagles steadily chipped away at the deficit. Sophomore forward Tremain Holloway nearly brought the roof down with a thunderous two-handed jam that turned into a three-point play to pull NCCU to within three points at 52-49 with 6:03 left to play.

The Eagles, however, failed to score in the next three possessions, while UVU built the lead back up to eight points. NCCU only managed to narrow the gap to four points the rest of the way.

NCCU has no time to reflect on Tuesday's setback, as the Eagles host Lenoir-Rhyne College, the 15th ranked team in the NCAA Division II with a 19-3 record and a 12-game win streak, on Wednesday (Feb. 20) at 7:30 p.m. in the final home game of the season.

NOTE: NCCU junior guard Bryan Ayala distributed six assists on Tuesday against Utah Valley to move him up two positions to No. 5 on NCCU's career assists list with 280. Ayala passed current NCCU assistant coach LeVelle Moton (278 assists from 1992-96) for the fifth spot.

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THE HERALD-SUN (www.HeraldSun.com)

Eagles can't catch up to fast start

By MIKE POTTER : The Herald-Sun mpotter@heraldsun.com

Feb 20, 2008

DURHAM -- N.C. Central did a lot of things right Tuesday night against Utah Valley.

But the Eagles didn't get off to a good start, and just as in their other meeting with the Wolverines this season, that was their downfall.

Ryan Toolson poured in 31 points including 15-for-15 from the line, leading the Wolverines to a 69-62 victory at McLendon-McDougald Gym and a sweep of the season series.

On Jan. 22 in Orem, Utah, the Wolverines beat the Eagles 68-52 after getting out to a 23-2 lead. This time it wasn't quite that bad, but Utah Valley got out to an early lead and never gave it up.

Jordan Brady added 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for Utah Valley, while Richard Troyer added 12 points as the Wolverines (13-14) became the first team to win two games over NCCU since the Eagles (3-24) became members of NCAA Division I this season.

"I don't know why it happened, but we came out in the first half and looked like we did at the beginning of the season," NCCU coach Henry Dickerson said. "We just weren't playing within our system and trying to do too many things individually.

"In the second half, we looked more like the team I've been seeing lately. We had just gotten behind and ended up with the wrong guys on the free-throw line for them."

UVU, which was a junior college before the process began, is now in the sixth year of its transition as a Division I independent. The Wolverines will be eligible for championship play next season.

"North Carolina Central came back with a lot of energy," UVU coach Dick Hunsacker said. "It's obvious Coach [Dickerson] has done a good job with this team. They've had an incredible challenge this season."

Charles Futrell had 16 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and the ninth of his career for NCCU, which placed four players in double figures for just the second time all season. He also played all 40 minutes for the 12th time.

"We just came out cold, and a lot of that is on me and [Bryan Ayala]," Futrell said. "They're a good team, but we showed for two halves we could play with them. We just didn't put a whole game together."

Ayala added 14 points, Philip Branch 13 and J'Mell Walters 10 for NCCU.

The Eagles outshot Utah Valley 41.5 percent to 40 from the floor, but lost the rebound battle 35-26. NCCU committed just eight turnovers to 10 for the visitors, but UVU was 22-for-23 from the free-throw line while the Eagles were 5-for-7.

"We knew that Toolson [who is hitting 96.0 percent from the free-throw line this season] could play, and I take my hat off to him," said the junior Ayala, whose six assists gave him 280 for his career and put him into fifth place on the NCCU career list. "It was almost a repeat of the last time we played them. We had a hard time getting started."