Dec. 30, 2009
Final Stats
HIGH POINT, N.C. (NCCUEaglePride.com)- The one constant theme for the North Carolina Central University men's basketball team this season has been superb first halves followed by second half struggles that dug NCCU in a hole it could not get out of, dropping a 70-58 decision to the High Point University Panthers on Tuesday night at the Millis Center.
Despite playing in only its second road contest inside Tar Heel state lines, the Eagles let a tough shooting performance overshadow an otherwise solid effort on the defensive end. The Eagles held one of the top players in the Big South Conference, Nick Barbour, to just 10 points, half of his 20 point a game average.
In the first half both teams got after it defensively not allowing either one to get comfortable, as both combined to hit 19-of-60 shots (31.6%) from the floor. NCCU went 8-of-29 (27.6%) from the field, but hit 4-of-6 from the perimeter, while High Point hit only 11-of-31 (35.5%), and led by four going into the halftime break at 30-26. In fact with all of the troubles the Eagles had from the field, NCCU hit 7-of-15 three-pointers on the night shooting a season-best 46.7 percent from the outside.
The offensive woes hit NCCU early in the second half with the Eagles missing the mark on its first seven shots, and saw its deficit grow to 10 at 40-30 with 14:18 to go. Over the next six minutes the Panthers and Eagles traded baskets keeping the HPU lead at 11 following a C.J. Wilkerson (Oxford, N.C.) layup. With the score 51-40, the Panthers extended its lead to 17 after a technical foul called on the Eagle bench.
NCCU was able to chip away and cut the Panther lead to 10 with possession of the basketball and 2:37 left, but that was as close as the Eagles got down the stretch falling 70-58. High Point now leads the all-time series 3-0.
All these are growing pains for a team in transition with a bright future ahead. Sophomore forward Nick Chasten (Raleigh, N.C.) kept the Eagles right there with HPU scoring a career-high 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Despite fouling out, Wilkerson dropped in 16 points in 31 minutes of action.
NCCU (2-11) has lost its last four contests in the month of December and looks ahead to its first affair of 2010 on Sunday afternoon against East Carolina University. Tipoff from Williams Arena-Minges Colisuem is set for 3:00.
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