Box Score

Box Score:  NCCU at Wagner


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (NCCUEaglePride.com) – Playing in a hostile environment in Wagner College’s home opener, missing senior Nick Chasten due to injury (Raleigh, N.C.), and allowing the Seahawks to hit 10-three pointers, the Eagles of North Carolina Central University were still able to battle back from a 14-point second half hole and nearly beat Wagner in their first-ever meeting dropping an 87-83 decision on Wednesday night from the Spiro Sports Center in Staten Island, N.Y.
 
In a contest that saw the Seahawks lead from the get-go, NCCU always found a way to claw its way back and it began in the first half with 4:40 to go when Wagner led 38-25 following a jumper by Seahawk guard Latif Rivers.  An 13-2 run over the next three minutes that ended with a Dominique Sutton (Durham, N.C.) layup cut the deficit to two at 40-38, and the Eagles took a 44-40 deficit into the locker room.
 
The highlight of the first half came with 7:30 remaining in the when junior Ray Willis skied through the middle of the lane slamming over Wagner’s Jonathan Williams drawing the foul and  sending a chorus of “oohs” and “ahs” from the crowd.  Willis ended the first frame with 10 points, while his counterpart Sutton finished with 18 points including a 6-for-6 mark from the free-throw line.
 
The Seahawks made their biggest move beginning in the second half as it scored the first eight points of the frame to widen the margin to 52-40 with 17:44 to go, forcing head coach LeVelle Moton to call a timeout to thwart the momentum. 
 
Despite the Wagner lead growing to 14 on three different occasions, NCCU would not go away into the New York night and with 10:36 remaining a Karamo Jawara (Bergen, Norway) made it 57-49 ballgame keeping the Eagles in the hunt ending an 8-2 maroon and gray run.
 
The lead floated around the 6-to-10 point margin until NCCU made its final move with 3:40 to go following a Rivers made three to put the score at 83-73.  The Eagles outscored Wagner 10-4 down the stretch, and it was almost enough to grab the big road win.  With 2:23 left junior Ebuka Anyaorah (Suwanee, Ga.) drilled a three-pointer to cut the margin to two at 83-81, and just a minute later two Willis free-throws gave the maroon and gray its first and only tie of the ballgame at 83 with 1:22 left.
 
A Chris Martin missed three gave NCCU the ball with under a minute to go, but Sutton’s shots in the lane would not go in and Wagner was able to pull away from there to score the games’ final four points thus giving the Seahawks the 87-83 win in its home opener.
 
In the win for Wagner, the Seahawks shot a ridiculous 50.9 percent including a 10-for-21 mark (47.6 percent) from the outside.  NCCU shot at a 47.3 percent clip and hit 25-for-29 (86.2 percent) free throws in the loss.  The Eagles were led by Sutton who finished with his second double-double with a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds.  Willis finished with 21 points, while Landon Clement (Raleigh, N.C.) ended up with 11 points and is now tied for seventh all-time at NCCU with 115 career three-pointers tying James Tucker (99-00, 02-04). 
 
NCCU (1-2) looks ahead to its Sunday night showdown with in-state foe Wake Forest University which is set for 7:00 p.m. from the Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.  The contest is slated to be televised by ESPN3.com.
 
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