March 15, 2008

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RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina Central University, charged by senior forward Charles Futrell, refused to lose against long-time rival Winston-Salem State University in the "Bonus Game" of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament on Championship Saturday inside the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.

The Eagles' determination resulted in a 60-56 victory over the Rams, as Futrell poured in a game-high 28 points in his final college contest. The Fayetteville, N.C. native shot 11-for-19 from the floor, including 2-of-6 from long range, and 4-of-6 from the free throw line, while adding seven rebounds, two blocked shots and the game-saving steal.

Futrell's four made free throws were the only points in the final four minutes of the game, as NCCU's stifling defensive pressure forced WSSU into seven missed shots and two turnovers during the closing stretch.

WSSU stormed out to an early lead, as the Rams scored 14 unanswered points to break a 6-6 tie and enjoy their largest cushion of the game at 20-6 with 11:50 on the first-half clock.

WSSU's advantage was 31-22 with 3:41 left before the break, when the Eagles scored the last nine points of the first stanza to tie the game at halftime, 31-31. Futrell closed out the opening 20 minutes with two thunderous dunks, one on a put-back with 25 seconds left and the second on a fast break following a Ram turnover just prior to the buzzer.

The two teams, each transitioning as Division I members, played to two ties and exchanged the lead seven times in the second half. NCCU held the largest second-half margin by either squad, when the Eagles went up 51-46 on a three-pointer by Bryan Ayala at 10:46.

Ayala finished with eight points, a team-high eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in 40 minutes of work for NCCU (4-26). Eagles junior shooting guard Philip Branch scored 11 points, including three triples, while freshman center Marius Vaskys contributed six points and junior point guard J'Mell Walters distributed a team-best five assists.

"It's a great feeling to close out our season with a rivalry win in front of our fans," said Ayala.

WSSU (12-18) was topped by senior Darrell Wonge, the lone Ram to score double-figures with 18 points.

"I am very proud of these young men," NCCU head coach Henry Dickerson said. "To go through what we have gone through this season and to not play for three weeks, this is a huge win for them and they deserve to celebrate."

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THE HERALD-SUN (www.heraldsun.com)

NCCU ends season with a win

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

Mar 16, 2008

RALEIGH -- Charles Futrell wasn't about to lose this basketball game.

Not the only game his N.C. Central team played against a historic rival all season, and certainly not in his final game as a collegian.

So the senior forward scored a game-high 28 points, including a clinching pair of free throws with two seconds left, as the Eagles topped Winston-Salem State 60-56 in the "bonus game" on Championship Saturday of the MEAC Tournament at the RBC Center.

WSSU (12-18) is in its first season in the MEAC. The Eagles (4-26), who are in their first season in NCAA Division I, have applied for MEAC membership.

"I didn't think about it being my last game so much," Futrell said. "I just knew it was against Winston, and any time we can beat Winston it's big." Philip Branch added 11 points for NCCU, which hadn't played a game for three weeks heading into the game with the Rams. Bryan Ayala added eight points and a season-high eight rebounds.

"Stix [Futrell] has been here longer than I have," NCCU coach Henry Dickerson said. "So he knows all about the rivalry. The other guys had to learn about it. But our fans know. They don't care if you've just got two guys out there. They just want you to win.

"This really is the biggest win of our season."

Senior Darrell Wonge was the only WSSU player in double figures with 18 points.

NCCU shot 37.2 percent from the floor to 35 for the Rams, who outrebounded the Eagles 46-37. NCCU committed 13 turnovers to 16 for WSSU, which played a full MEAC regular-season schedule but is not yet eligible for NCAA post-season play and thus could not play in the tournament proper.

"We hadn't played in three weeks, and that showed at the beginning of the game," Dickerson said. "But we had been spending a lot of time on conditioning, and I think that showed down the stretch. I thought the guys did a super job."

The Rams, who had last played nine days earlier and had played four games since NCCU last played, looked sharper in the early going and appeared ready to blow the Eagles out of the building.

WSSU was up 20-6 following a Darius Floyd layup with 11:50 left in the first half, and was still up 31-22 following a pair of Wonge free throws with 3:41 to go before the break.

"Central was very difficult to prepare for," WSSU coach Bobby Collins said. "Since they hadn't had a game in three weeks, [Dickerson] could have put in a whole new system. We knew we had to have good transition defense and stop their 3s. We wanted to hold Futrell closer to his average [16.3 points], and we didn't do a very good job of that."

The Eagles woke up their fans with a 9-0 run to end the half, the final four points coming on a pair of breakaway dunks from Futrell with the last just before the buzzer.

WSSU's last lead was 46-45, following a 3-pointer from Isiah Tucker with 13:34 left.

The Eagles answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Futrell and Ayala, making it 51-46 with 10:46 showing. Ayala's 3-pointer with 6:12 to play that put the Eagles up 56-52 was the last field goal of the game.

NCCU was ahead 58-56 after a pair of Futrell free throws with 2:46 to go. The Eagles then missed the front ends of all three one-and-ones -- Futrell at :33, Ayala at :19 and Futrell with just eight seconds left -- before Futrell came up with a steal and knocked down a pair of free throws with just two seconds to go to seal the result.

"You want to make those [one-and-one] free throws, and we didn't," Dickerson said. "Free throws are a big part of the game. But the important thing was that we made those stops after we missed them. The reason we were in the game was because of our defense."

Collins said it was tough to swallow the fact that the Eagles' best players had missed those key free throws and his team couldn't capitalize on it. "That's my worst nightmare," he said.

Ayala and fellow junior J'Mell Walters said the win should leave the team feeling pretty good going into the off-season.

"We lost a lot of games, but it feels pretty good to finish the season beating Winston," Ayala said.

Added Walters, "It's going to give us a lot more confidence. Just saying 'We beat Winston' will do that."

NOTES - NCCU is 11-7 all-time at the RBC Center... NCCU was a founding member of the MEAC, but left in 1980 when the conference opted to move from Division II to Division I... The Eagles were 1-1 on neutral courts this season... NCCU went 2-2 against MEAC members this season. The Eagles split a pair of games with Coppin State, and lost at Norfolk State. All four of those games were decided by four points or less... WSSU was the 10th North Carolina school the Eagles played this season; that is thought to be a record for a Division I member school.