Box Score
Complete Game Statistics
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.- (NCCUEaglePride.com) - The North Carolina Central University men’s basketball team committed 20 turnovers, shot just 3-for-12 from the three-point range, and played without its leading scorer, C.J. Wilkerson, who sat out Saturday’s MEAC Bonus Game at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum due to a fractured foot suffered two days ago as the Savannah State University Tigers outlasted the Eagles 64-50.
The resilient Eagles never once used Wilkerson’s injury as an excuse and in the first despite falling behind 15-7 with 14:57 to go, the resilient Eagles went on a 14-2 run to take a 21-17 lead forcing SSU head coach Horace Broadnax to call a timeout with 6:45 to go in the first frame. During that span, five different Eagles scored baskets that began with freshman Jeremy Ingram’s layup. Following the timeout the Tigers quickly scored the next four points to tie it up and the game went back-and-forth the final five minutes until SSU’s Cedric Smith’s three-pointer with 31 seconds left gave the Tigers the 30-27 halftime lead.
Freshman Jeremy Ingram led the Eagle attack in the first half with 8 points and four rebounds, Clement started the contest with two straight three-pointers and had 7 in the first frame. The that that concerned head coach LeVelle Moton was the 11 first half turnovers that SSU turned into 10 points, otherwise NCCU was in position to get the win after the first 20 minutes.
The second half proved to be a different story for NCCU as Savannah State used a 12-4 spurt to start the second frame to pull ahead by 11 at 42-31 with 14:05 to go. To make matters worse NCCU’s Ingram recorded three personal fouls, giving him four in the game sending him to the bench.
Savannah State’s largest lead of the afternoon rose to 14 points with 9:54 to go and the Eagles still continued to fight despite the lack of offensive firepower. With 5:21 left Tramar Beaman;s layup off the right side cut the deficit to nine at 56-47 but NCCU could get no closer dropping the contest 64-50 to end the 2010-11 season.
Doing everything he could to step up in the second half, Clement went 3-for-10 from the field including 0-for-4 from three-point range, while leading the Eagles with 14 points. Scoring in double figures for the second time this season, Marvin Fitzgerald, ended up with 10 points six rebounds along with two blocks and two assists in the loss.
Savannah State was led in the scoring by sophomore Preston Blackman who finished with a game-high 16 points, while the Tigers also received big contributions from reserve Cedric Smith who added 14 points to Jovonni Shuler’s 13 points. SSU ended the season winning 10 out of their last 12 ballgames to finish the season 13-18. NCCU finishes its first non-losing season since the 2004-05 season going 15-15, while finishing 10-6 against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents.
Clement finished the 2010-11 season as the first Eagle to record 100 three-pointers in a season and finished the year with 109.
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