Complete Game Notes (PDF)
THE GAME
North Carolina Central University begins the new year with quite possibly its most anticipated matchup inside McDougald-McLendon Gym as the East Carolina University Pirates make the 107-mile trip to the Bull City, as NCCU hosts its first ever FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) opponent since moving to Division I. The Eagles are looking to begin the home slate 5-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season, and come into the ballgame fresh off a 99-91 victory over Milligan College last Wednesday, Dec. 29.
THE SERIES
NCCU and East Carolina have played three previous times with the one exception being an exhibition game that the Pirates won 68-47 on Nov. 26, 2006. So these in-state rivals have met two times since moving to Division I with ECU winning both matchups by double figures.
EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY “PIRATES”
Making the 107-mile trip to the Bull City may be the much of the same squad that the Eagles fell to 68-58 just 365 days ago, but the East Carolina Pirates are under a new regime as Jeff Lebo took over following last season. In 12-plus years of coaching, Lebo has compiled a 218-162 record and has ECU at 7-6 in his first season. The former North Carolina standout has averaged nearly 18 wins per season during his coaching career, and has rebuilt three programs (Tennessee Tech, Chattanooga, and Auburn) by guided his teams to two NITs (National Invitational Tournament) including a trip to the NIT Championship Game. At all three stops Lebo has recorded at least one 20-win season before departing. The Pirates are in the middle of a five-game road swing and enter Monday night’s contest with a four-game losing streak after falling to the Clemson Tigers 71-59 last Wednesday. ECU is led by senior Jontae Sherrod who is not only leading the team with 13.5 points per game, but has scored in double figures in seven of the nine games in which he has started. Sherrod is 16th in Conference USA in scoring, while his teammate Darrius Morrow is 30th averaging 10.6 points per game, while the power forward is sitting 20th in the league grabbing 5.3 rebounds an outing. The Pirates boast two student-athletes sitting in the conference’s top ten in assists with current starting point guard Corvonn Gaines in 10th dishing out 3.5 helpers per contest, while senior Brock Young who has been battling injuries sits in 6th with 4.3 assists coming off the bench. The third leading scorer on the team senior Jamar Abrams is shooting a deadly 40.6 percent from the outside which sits him tied for 11th in Conference USA in three-point percentage.
UP NEXT
NCCU jumps back into MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) play on Jan. 8 as the Delaware State University Hornets travel to the unfriendly confines of McDougald-McLendon Gym for a Saturday afternoon 4:00 tipoff. Adding to the intrigue of this contest will be the return of former NCCU head coach and current Delaware State head coach Greg Jackson to the Bull City. Jackson’s tenure as the head coach at NCCU went from 1991 to 2000 where he racked up 164 wins, third most in school history, and led the Eagles to the Division II “Elite Eight” in the 1992-93 season, and back-to-back NCAA Division II Regional Championship appearances. Jackson was also an assistant under DSU coaching staff member and former NCCU head coach Michael Bernard who guided NCCU to the 1989 NCAA Division II National Championship. Following that emotional contest, the maroon and gray take on Maryland Eastern Shore in doubleheader action on Monday, Jan. 10 where tipoff is approximately set for 7:30 p.m.
