NCCU at Savannah State Game Notes (PDF)
THE GAME
North Carolina Central University is down to its last three contests of the 2011-12 regular season with a chance to climb up the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) standings currently sitting in fifth place with an 8-5 mark. The Eagles are 1-1 in the five game season-ending road swing and have won five of their last seven contests. NCCU gets set to battle the surprising front-runner of the league Savannah State who is 11-2 in league action.
THE SERIES
NCCU and Savannah State are meeting for the 12th time in program history with the Tigers leading the series 6-5. On Feb. 11, SSU beat NCCU 67-57 in Durham. Last season, the Tigers beat the Eagles 64-50 in the MEAC Bonus Game on March 12, 2011 at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem., N.C. Since 2008, NCCU is 1-5 against SSU. The Eagles are 265-259 against MEAC opponents all-time.
SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY "TIGERS"
The Tigers of Savannah State University may be the biggest surprise of the 2011-12 campaign after being picked 11th in the preseason, SSU is 11-2 and in first place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference that includes 10 wins-in-a-row entering play this weekend. Savannah State is 13-1 since Jan. 7 with the lone loss coming on the road against Bethune-Cookman 68-62 on January 16. The Tigers are a game ahead of Norfolk State in the standings, but the Spartans own the tie-breaker with a 60-58 win . The best way to describe the Savannah State is to discuss who is leads the program. Horace Broadnax is in his seventh season as head coach has compiled a 83-93 record overall during his tenure. To illustrate how far Broadnax has taken the program in the 2005-06 season the Tigers went a dismal 2-28. Since then SSU has recorded double figure wins in every season including 12 in the 2006-07 campaign. Broadnax is known for his great collegiate career at Georgetown as a vital member of the 1984 NCAA National Championship team and the 1985 squad that was upset by Villanova in the National Title game. This team plays a similar brand of basketball with tough and physical style being a key word to describe the squad. The probable starting lineup has four juniors, one sophmore, and no seniors. As a team, SSU is ranked No. 1 in the league in scoring defense (59.8 ppg) and sit at the top of the league in rebounding defense (31.4 rpg) and third in the conference offensive rebounds (14.4 bpg). The Tigers are led in scoring by junior Rashad Hassan who is averaging 13.3 points per game which places him 9th in the league in scoring. Hassan is just behind NCCU’s Dominique Sutton in field goal percentage at 59.4 percent from the field (152-of-256). Shooting guard Deric Rudolph is 23rd in the MEAC in scoring averaging 10.9 points per contest. Rudolph is No. 1 in the conference in three-pointers made per game at 3.0 and has hit 83 shots from the outside this year. Forward Arnold Louis, who typically comes off the bench is four in the conference pulling down 8.1 boards a game. Point guard Preston Blackmon is third in the league in assists at 5.1 helpers per game. Like NCCU, Savannah State in making its debut as an official NCAA Division I institution and is now eligible for postseason play. SSU had been without conference affiliation since leaving the SIAC (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) in 1998.
UP NEXT
NCCU will head back into the Palmetto State to look for the season sweep over the Bulldogs of South Carolina State University at 7:00 p.m. from the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center in Orangeburg, S.C., on Monday, Feb. 27. NCCU beat SC State 71-56 on Monday, Feb. 13 in Durham, N.C. The maroon and gray will end the 2011-12 regular season on Thursday, March 1 against Hampton University at 7:00 p.m. from the Convocation Center in Hampton, Va.
