NCCU vs SCSU Game Notes (PDF)
THE GAME
North Carolina Central University will honor five seniors who have given their heart and souls to the maroon and gray as Tramar Beaman (Williamstown, N.J.), Justin Leemow (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Dominique Sutton (Durham, N.C.), Nick Chasten (Raleigh, N.C.), and Tracy O’Neal (Aiken, S.C.) will all don the home uniform for the final time this season at McDougald-McLendon Gym.
THE SERIES
NCCU and South Carolina State are meeting for the 40th time in program history with the Eagles sweeping the Bulldogs last season 74-71 in overtime on Dec. 4, 2010 in Orangeburg, S.C. and 78-62 on March 3, 2011 in Durham, N.C. on Senior Night. NCCU leads 20-19 in a series that dates back to Jan. 16, 1941. The Eagles are 263-258 against MEAC opponents all-time.
NCCU SPORTS NETWORK
Eagle Gameday built by Dayeco Construction Co. begins at 6:45 p.m. (EST) on Monday, Feb. 13th and can be seen and heard only online at www.NCCUEaglePride.com. Play-by-play voice of the NCCU Sports Network Chris Hooks and NCCU Hall-of-Famer Joe Simmons will call the live action of the 40th meeting between NCCU and SCSU. Fans can also stay up-to-date with the MEAC matchup on twitter by following @NCCUAthletics and @NCCUradio and by using the hashtag #NCCUSCSU.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY "BULLDOGS"
The Bulldogs of South Carolina State University enter Monday night’s affair with the sting of a 30-point defeat at the hands of North Carolina A&T State University. That loss kept the Bulldogs winless in conference play at 0-10 as SCSU is 5-19 overall this season. A&T made it difficult on the Bulldogs from the get-go shooting an astound 61.6 percent from the field (16-for-26) including a 4-for-8 (50.0 percent) mark from the outside. On the other hand, SCSU was just 3-for-10 (30.0 percent) from the perimeter and made just 10 field goals in the first frame, finding itself down 43-29 at the break. It was more of the same in the second half as A&T shot over 50.0 percent, while the Bulldogs shot 9-for-32 from the field (28.1 percent) that included 2-for-18 (11.1%) from three-point land. The Aggies cruised to the 85-55 victory. Despite the loss, leading scorer 6-2 guard Brandon Riley dropped in a team-high 16 points. Riley is third in the MEAC in scoring at 17.1 points a game. His teammate point guard Khalif Toombs is 25th in the league averaging 10.5 points a game and fifth in assists at 4.3 assists per game, while 6-7 big man Omar Sanders is 27th dropping in 10.3 points a contest. Sanders is also sixth in the MEAC in rebounding at 7.7 boards a game, while sitting in 12th in field goal percentage at 48.8 percent (81-of-166). As a team SCSU is eighth in scoring at 64.5 points a contest, while the Bulldogs are dead last in the conference allowing 78.0 points per game. Entering play on Monday, South Carolina State was 10th in the league in three-point percentage hit just 29.8 percent of its shots from the outside. The Bulldogs are led by fifth year head coach Tim Carter who has amassed a 58-71 record during his tenure in Orangeburg and 218-223 in 15 years of coaching at the collegiate level. From Nov. 29 till Feb. 6 SCSU lost 16-straight contests that included defeats to Pittsburgh, Hawai’i, South Carolina and Oklahoma along with games within the MEAC. The streak was snapped in a 74-58 win over Longwood University at home where freshman Devin Joint scored a team-high 16 points for the Bulldogs.
UP NEXT
The Eagles will spend the last five games of the season on the road beginning with a rematch with the arch-rival Aggies of North Carolina A&T on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 4:00 p.m. inside the Corbett Sports Center in Greensboro, N.C. NCCU beat A&T back on Dec. 3, 2011 65-46 to earn its first MEAC victory.
