Complete Game Statistics
TALLAHASSE, FLA.- (NCCUEaglePride.com) - The North Carolina Central University men’s basketball team entered the Lawson Center looking to hand the Rattlers of Florida A&M University just its second home loss of the season. Mission accomplished for the Eagles as Landon Clement’s clutch three free throws with 26 seconds left provided enough cushion to earn the 58-55 win on Saturday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
In the fifth meeting between these two programs the defensive intensity was apparent from the get-go as Florida A&M led 17-8 with 8:24 left in the first half, frustrating the Eagle offensive attack, and forcing head coach LeVelle Moton to call a 30 second timeout.
Over the next five minutes the Eagles settled down and went on a 13-3 run to take the lead back at 21-20. The bucket that gave the Eagles the lead was a historic one as junior sharpshooter Clement (Raleigh, N.C.) hit his 100th three pointer with 3:17 left. Clement becomes the first Eagle to record 100 three pointers in a season, adding to the already-broken record of 87, previously held by Moton.
The lead for NCCU was short lived as point guard Avery Moore hit a deep three pointer with 2:44 left in the first frame giving the Rattlers a 23-21 advantage. FAMU took a 25-23 lead into the locker room.
The second half was just as dramatic as the last meeting between the two as there were seven ties and nine lead changes. The Eagles came out strong in the final 20 minutes to take a 28-27 lead in the first two minutes behind Justin Leemow’s (Brooklyn, N.Y.) layup.
Freshman Jeremy Ingram (Charlotte, N.C.) played big in the second half for NCCU hitting two three pointers including the clutch trey that broke a 39-39 tie with 9:11 to go. Ingram finished with nine points in the contest.
The Eagles led by as much as five down the stretch but the resilient Rattlers continued to battle back, which was certainly aided with both C.J. Wilkerson (Oxford, N.C.) and Nick Chasten (Raleigh, N.C.) being saddled with foul trouble.
With 5:19 left to go, FAMU tied the contest at 49 on Jeremy Dean’s layup which would be followed up by an Amin Stevens dunk giving the Rattlers the two-point advantage at 51-49 with 5:00 to go forcing Moton to call another 30 second timeout sensing the momentum switch.
That’s when Leemow scored two clutch baskets and gave the lead back to the Eagles at 53-51 with 4:18 to go. Ingram helped stretch the lead to four following two made free throws with 3:12 left.
That set the stage for the dramatic final three minutes, Florida A&M scored the next two buckets to tie the ballgame at 55 with 48 seconds left. Both Brandon Holsey and Yannick Crowder scored for the Rattlers to climb back and tie it for the final time of the night.
With the game knotted at 55 and NCCU with possession of the basketball, Moton put the ball in the hands of Wilkerson who drove to the baseline dishing a pass to Clement in the left corner who then attempted a three pointer to give the Eagles the lead, but was fouled Florida A&M’s Dean with 26 seconds to go. Clement hit all three free throws and the Rattlers could not get a clean shot off as NCCU held on for the 58-55 win.
The win can be attributed to the gutsy effort by the maroon and grey on the defensive side of the floor who held Florida A&M to 39.3 percent (24-for-61) from the field, 3-for-21 from three-point range.
Clement’s 12 second half points propelled the Eagles to the win as he finished with 15 as did teammate Wilkerson who is just eight points away from becoming the 33rd Eagle in NCCU’s history to score 1,000 career points. Clement’s two three pointers gives him 101 on the season. On the other hand, Wilkerson finished the night just 2-for-4 from the field, but went 10-for-14 from the free throw line.
Florida A&M’s Stevens finished with a game-high double-double 23 points and 12 rebounds in the loss for the Rattlers (12-17).
NCCU (14-13) has doubled its win total from Moton’s first season (7-22) and can equal the win total through the entire transition with a win in the final three contests.
The Eagles will look to end the long road trip on Monday night against Bethune-Cookman University from the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla. at 7:30 p.m. B-CU beat NCCU 67-64 in Durham, on Jan. 31 in the first meeting this season.
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