LAST TIME OUT: NCCU-94, TOCCOA FALLS-40 (NOV. 20, 2012)
Five North Carolina Central University men’s basketball student-athletes recorded double figures as the host Eagles cruised to the 94-40 win over Toccoa Falls on Tuesday night at McDougald-McLendon Gym. The big story coming out of this contest was junior point guard Emanuel Chapman (Raleigh, N.C.) amassed 10 assists giving him double-figure helpers for the sixth time in his Eagle career and is now in the top-10 in school history in career assists as he now has 252. Chapman needs 16 helpers to tie former Eagle Michael Glasker (2007-11) who ended his career with 268 assists. In the first meeting between these two programs, NCCU came out blistering from the field in the first half missing just seven shots, going 24-for-31 (77.4 percent) while holding the visiting Eagles to eight field goals on the way to a 59-22 advantage.  The maroon and gray were so dominate in the first frame with the score 27-16 with 10:42 to the Eagles went on a 19-0 run to see the margin expand to 30 at 46-16 and took a 59-22 lead into the locker room. The Eagles held a huge advantage in the paint at 30-to-4, and scored 30 points off of turnovers in the first frame. In fact, NCCU held a 22-0 advantage in fast break points in the first 20 minutes. The second half was more of the same as the host Eagles clamped down on defense to hold Toccoa Falls to just five field goals and a total of 18 points, while NCCU quickly went on a 14-3 run through the first seven minutes of the second half to stretch the lead out to 47 after Jeremy Ingram’s (Charlotte, N.C.) three-pointer at 73-26 with 13:12 to go. Junior transfer Alfonzo Houston’s (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) lone shot from the outside gave NCCU its largest lead of the night at 58 (92-to-34) with 2:34 to go as the Eagles cruised to the 94-40 win. The host Eagles were by Ingram’s 19 points, followed on by Jay Copeland’s (Suffolk, Va.) 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Stanton Kidd (Baltimore, Md.) added 15 points, while Ray Willis (Atlanta, Ga.) dropped in 13 points, as senior Ebuka Anyaorah scored 12 points to aide in the NCCU victory. Toccoa Falls (2-5dropped its fourth straight contest and finished the night shooting 13-for-42 (31.0 percent) from the field hitting only 3-for-22 (13.6 percent) from the outside in the loss. Guard Freddie Harrell was the lone Eagle to score in double figures scoring 10 points on the night.

LAST MEETING: WAGNER-87, NCCU-83 (NOV. 16, 2011)
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).

EAGLES VS, NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
NCCU has played just three of the league’s 12 teams in program history. Here is a breakdown of NCCU’s games against NEC opponents. NCCU is officially 1-4 against the NEC. NCCU took down Sacred Heart in the first game of the NCAA Division II "Elite Eight" on the way to the National Championship two days later.

11/16/11 at Wagner 83-87 L
3/23.89 vs. Sacred Heart 58-57 W
1/22/79 vs. Robert Morris 71-75 L
12/2/64 vs. Mount St. Mary’s L
3/9/57 vs. Mount St. Mary’s L