Dec. 21, 2009
Final Stats
MUNCIE, IND. (NCCUEaglePride.com)- The North Carolina Central University Eagles have made a habit of putting a scare into a few top tiers teams in Division I and Monday night's contest against Mid- American Conference member Ball State University was certainly no different. A tremendous Eagle effort fell just short of pulling an upset in a 59-45 loss to the Cardinals.
Storming out of the gates, the maroon and gray scored the first six points of the game that was highlighted by a putback dunk from junior C.J. Wilkerson (Oxford, N.C.) forcing a Ball State timeout just 1:16 into the ballgame.
From that point on, NCCU and Ball State went back-and-forth throughout the remainder of the first half, except for a 14-7 run over a seven minute span that vaulted BSU to the 27-17 lead with 2:37 left. Sophomore Nick Chasten (Raleigh, N.C.) hit the Eagles only two first half three pointers including one that tickled the twine as time ran out cutting the deficit to five at the halftime break 28-23.
The final 20 minutes was not short on drama as NCCU stayed within striking distance for most of the second stanza. In fact, the mighty Eagles trailed by five with possession of the basketball on two occasions only see a Chasten 15-foot jump shot rim out and a wide-open three pointer by junior Dwayne Sims (Dayton, Ohio) fall inches short for NCCU. Ball State took full advantage of the Eagle misses putting together at 15-6 run over the final minutes of the ballgame spoiling the chances of an NCCU upset.
Highlighting the night for NCCU (2-10) was freshman Dijon Manns (Raleigh, N.C.) who scored in double-figures for the first time as an Eagle. Manns scored 13 points to lead NCCU on 6-of-12 shooting. Two other Eagles contributed on the night with Wilkerson adding 11 points and three assists, while Chasten scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked three shots. Junior Michael Glasker (Newports News, Va.) added 9 assists giving him 19 assists and only four turnovers over the last two ballgames.
Unfortunately for NCCU, the iron was unkind from the perimeter. Even though the Eagles extended its streak of hitting at least one three pointer to 113 games, NCCU went 3-for-17 (17.6%) from the outside, its worst outing of the season.
NCCU gets back to action after the holiday break and continues its season-long six-game road swing on Dec. 29 against in-state foe High Point University. Tip off from the Millis Center is set for 7:00 p.m.
