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DURHAM, N.C. (www.NCCUEaglePride.com) - Down by two points with 19 seconds left in the contest, North Carolina Central University got the ball in the hands of senior guard #C.J. Wilkerson#, the Eagles’ clutch performer who has averaged 32 points in his last three outings. Driving towards the basket in front of the NCCU bench, the physical defensive pressure by Bethune-Cookman University forced Wilkerson to lose his handle on the ball and the visiting Wildcats collected the turnover to secure a 67-64 victory inside McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium on Monday night.
Wilkerson finished with 21 points, 18 of which he tallied after intermission. NCCU junior sharpshooter
Landon Clement connected on five of his 10 three-point attempts to finish with a team-best 23 points, but no other Eagle reached double figures in the scoring column. Junior
Nick Chasten was the closest with eight points and six rebounds.
Bethune-Cookman (13-9) was led by the head coach’s son, C.J. Reed, who amassed 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals in the victory. Junior forward Garrius Holloman contributed a double-double performance with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Alexander Starling added 16 points and eight boards for the Wildcats, who sit atop the MEAC standings with a 7-1 conference record.
NCCU (10-10) stormed out to a convincing 22-10 advantage, making 10 of its first 17 field goal tries through the first 11 minutes of the ballgame. The Wildcats then turned the table, connecting on four straight baskets during a 9-0 run to trim the deficit to 22-19 at 5:58.
A pair of free throws by Clement at 4:09 pushed the NCCU cushion back up to five points (27-22), but B-CU closed the half with an 11-1 run to take a 33-28 lead into the locker room.
Reed drained a three-pointer to open the second-half scoring and grow the Wildcats’ margin to 36-28, but NCCU scored 10 unanswered to take a 38-36 lead when Clement hit a jumper at 15:56.
About five minutes later with the game tied at 48-48 after another bomb by NCCU’s Clement, Reed tallied five points during a 7-0 Wildcat run to give the visitors a 55-48 lead with 6:52 remaining.
NCCU battled back and Clement’s fifth and final triple of the night pulled the Eagles to within one point, 63-62, with 1:28 left in the contest.
After a pair of critical free throws by B-CU senior forward Alexander Starling at 1:10, followed by the answer with Wilkerson’s two free throws for the Eagles with one minute on the clock, the score remained a one-point margin in favor of the Wildcats.
With 32 seconds left, Starling pulled down the biggest of his eight boards off of a missed three-point try by teammate Stanley Elliott, forcing the Eagles to foul Reed and send him to the free-throw line with 23 seconds remaining. Reed made the first attempt, but missed the second as Chasten secured the rebound for NCCU to set up Wilkerson’s unsuccessful drive for the potential game-tying basket.
Kevin Dukes, who picked up Wilkerson’s loose ball and was fouled with five ticks on the clock, made the first free throw to make it a three-point B-CU lead, but missed the second to keep the NCCU comeback dreams alive. After grabbing the rebound, Chasten pushed the ball up court and managed to get away a potential game-tying heave from 28 feet away, but his shot banked off the glass and the front of the rim as the Wildcats celebrated their third straight victory.
NCCU returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 5 at Howard University.
