Feb. 10, 2010
Final Stats
DURHAM, N.C. (www.NCCUEaglePride.com) - North Carolina Central University seemed to be in cruise control with less than two minutes left in the first half against the visiting Hawks of Maryland Eastern Shore, but the Eagles slipped into a nine-point deficit to open the second stanza before rallying for a 73-71 win over UMES inside McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
NCCU freshman forward Dijon Manns poured in a season-high 24 points, including a dominant 16-point effort in the first half, while junior guard C.J. Wilkerson scored the team's final six points down the stretch to finish with 21 points.
The Eagles also received solid contributions from sophomore forward Nick Chasten with 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists, junior guard Vincent Davis with nine points and a game-high nine rebounds, and junior guard P.J. Taylor with a season-high six assists.
The victory was the second in a row for NCCU as the Eagles improve to 6-20 on the season.
UMES (7-17) was topped by sophomore Hillary Haley with 16 points, followed by junior Tim Burns with 12 points and junior Kevin White with 10 points, seven assists and four steals.
NCCU held a nine-point lead (37-28) after a pair of free throws by Davis with 1:43 remaining in the first half.
The Eagles missed their final four shots before intermission, while Josh Bright nailed a three-pointer for the Hawks at 1:03 to make the halftime score 37-31 in favor of the home team.
UMES stormed out of the locker room to score the first 13 points of the second half to take a stunning 44-37 lead.
Dwayne Sims connected on a triple to end the NCCU scoring drought at the 15:40 mark.
Still, the Hawks managed to push the advantage to as much as nine points when Mark Robertson made his second three-point basket of the half to make the score 51-42 with 13:47 to play.
NCCU responded by scoring the next eight points to trim the deficit to 51-50 at 11:59. From that point on, the future MEAC foes exchanged the lead five times and knotted the score five times for a dramatic finish.
A jumper by Wilkerson provided the Eagles with a 69-65 cushion with 2:49 remaining.
Moments later, Burns answered for the Hawks with an old-fashioned three-point play to trim the gap to 69-68 at 2:28.
After an NCCU turnover, Hailey dialed in from long distance to give UMES a 71-69 edge with 1:28 left.
Wilkerson tied the game with a pair of free throws at 1:15.
After a missed three-pointer by UMES, Wilkerson was fouled again driving to the basket and made the game-winning free throws with nine seconds remaining.
After a timeout by NCCU, a three-point attempt by Hailey missed the mark and the home team celebrated the victory.
NCCU returns to McDougald-McLendon Gym on Saturday (Feb. 13) to play Longwood at 7 p.m. The contest will air on WRJD 1410 AM starting at 6:45 p.m.
