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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NCCUEaglePride.com) – Sophomore Jeremy Ingram’s career-high 27 points, Ray Willis’s second double-double of the season, and North Carolina Central University’s stellar defense holding Howard University to 29.8 percent shooting (14-for-47) were all the Eagles needed to earn their first road win of the season 69-53 inside Burr Gymnasium on Monday night in Washington, D.C.
Even though the maroon and gray won by the 16-point margin, it was not pretty from the outset as it took the Eagle offense awhile to get going, taking 5:14 to score their first bucket, which was a layup by the man of the night, Ingram. In fact, Howard scored the first eight points of the ballgame to grab the early lead at 8-2 with 14:46 left.
Leading 11-2 with 14:27 to go in the first frame following a Glen Andrews three-pointer, NCCU finally put the pedal to the metal, with an 11-0 spurt to take a 13-11 lead on a Dominique Sutton (Durham, N.C.) dunk with 10:22 remaining.
With the game tied at 13, Ingram started heating up scoring six of the next seven points for the Eagles to grab a 20-13 advantage with 8:58 to go.
The NCCU lead hovered around the five point area for the rest of the frame until the final five minutes when the maroon and gray turned a two-point lead into a 10-point cushion with 4:08 to go, using that momentum to take a 37-24 lead into the locker room thanks to Ingram’s second three-pointer, and Nick Chasten’s (Raleigh, N.C.) layup to add to the Eagle lead.
Through the first 20 minutes, Ingram put up 19 points, quieting the Bison faithful on 7-of-10 shooting along with a 2-for-3 effort behind-the-arc, already eclipsed his previous career-high of 14 points which he managed in a road loss at Coastal Carolina on Feb. 17, 2011 in Conway, S.C.
To add to the excitement, the Eagle defense forced the Bison to hit just six field goals in the first half shooting 28.6 percent (6-for-21) from the field.
The final 20 minutes was much of the same story for NCCU as Howard was only able to cut the margin down to single digits on one occasion as the Eagles ran away with the 69-53 win.
Along with Ingram’s career night, the sophomore recorded his highest rebounding output with eight boards, and tied a career high of three assists in the victory. Ingram finished 10-for-14 from the field including a 3-for-5 effort from three-point range.
In two games inside Burr Gymnasium, Ingram has scored 37 points, averaging 18.5 points a game in that venue as NCCU has won the last two meetings to improve their record to 37-25 all-time against HU.
Other notable scorers include, Willis, who ended the evening with 11 points and 10 rebounds to record his second double-double of the year while going 8-for-8 from the foul line. Sutton dropped in 11 points to aid in the Eagle win.
Howard (4-16, 1-6 MEAC) had two players in double-figures as Andrews finished with 17 points while point guard Simuel Frazier ended up with 10 points.
The sparkling defensive effort by NCCU (9-8, 3-1 MEAC) was the second worst shooting performance by an opponent this season as Johnson & Wales shot 28.6 percent (16-for-56) back on Nov. 13, 2011. Howard shot a dismal 29.8 percent connecting on just 14 field goals in the loss.
The win puts NCCU up the upper echelon of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) with a 3-1 record, setting the stage for a huge road swing up north in the Charm City of Baltimore, Md. to battle Coppin State on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 4:00 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. against Morgan State University, two teams picked in the top four in the league during the preseason.
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