NCCU vs UMES MEAC FIRST ROUND
The 33rd meeting between these two programs will decide who will survive and advance

Men's Basketball Chris Hooks, Assistant Sports Information Director/Broadcast Media Coordinator

NCCU MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES VS. #12 UMES (MARCH 6, 2012)

Fifth-seeded Eagles look to make run in MEAC Tournament


#5 NCCU vs. #12 UMES MEAC First Round Notes (PDF)


THE GAME
North Carolina Central University ended the regular season with a 10-6 mark in league play earning the fifth seed in the 2012 MEAC Basketball Tournament. NCCU will take on the no. 12 seed University of Maryland Eastern Shore in first round action as the Eagles will compete in their first conference tournament since 2007. With its 60-45 win over Hampton last Thursday, NCCU will finish with a winning record for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

THE SERIES
NCCU and Maryland Eastern Shore have met 32 previous times with the series knotted up a 16-16. The maroon and gray have won the last three meetings of this series including the Jan. 30, 2012 matchup in Durham, N.C. where NCCU beat UMES 77-46. The first meeting between these two programs took place on Dec. 9, 1954. The Eagles are 267-260 against MEAC opponents all-time.

NCCU SPORTS NETWORK
Eagle Gameday built by Dayeco Construction Co. begins at 3:45 on Tuesday and will begin 15 minute prior to tipoff as long as the Eagles are playing in the tournament on www.NCCUEaglePride.com.  Play-by-play voice of the NCCU Sports Network, Chris Hooks, along with Hall-of-Famer Joe Simmons will bring all the live action from the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.  Fans can also follow the action of the 2012 MEAC Basketball Tournament on Twitter by following @NCCUAthletics and @NCCUradio or by using the hashtag #NCCUMEAC.

SUTTON AND WILLIS NAMED TO ALL-MEAC TEAMS
Following the conclusion of North Carolina Central University’s first winning regular season at the division I level, the accolades have come along with it as Dominique Sutton (Durham, N.C.) and Ray Willis (Atlanta, Ga.) were both named to the All-MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) teams honoring their performances during the 2011-12 campaign. Sutton, named to the first team, finished the season at NCCU fourth in the MEAC averaging 16.6 points per contest along with 7.4 rebounds which placed him seventh in the conference. The 6-5 forward tied for first in the league shooting 59.3 percent from the field which was good enough for 11th in the nation. Sutton led the squad with nine double-doubles on the season. He also scored 20-plus points six times that included 29 points on the road at Wagner on Nov. 16, 2011. During the regular season, Sutton was honored by the MEAC three different times as player of the week twice along with one defensive player of the week accolade. He was joined on the first team with four other seniors, Darrion Pellum (Hampton), Jay Threatt (Delaware State), Tony Gallo (Coppin State), and Kyle O’Quinn (Norfolk State). Willis, selected to the second team, finished his first season averaging 15.2 points per game which placed him seventh in the conference, while he was also fifth in the MEAC from the foul line shooting 80.7 percent. The 6-6 junior ended the regular season with four double-doubles and scored 20-plus points on seven different occasions that included 28 points against Delaware State on Jan. 28, 2012. Willis earned MEAC player of the week honors twice during the regular season. He was joined on the second team by Tahj Tate (Delaware State), Chris McEachin (Norfolk State), Deric Rudolph (Savannah State), Marques Oliver (Delaware State), and Rashad Hassan (Savannah State). Rudolph and McEachin both tied in the voting. All awards were voted on by the conferences head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directors.

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE "HAWKS"
The Hawks of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore finished the regular season 7-22 overall, 4-12 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference which placed them 12th in the conference. Since Jan. 30, 2012 the Hawks are just 3-7 but two of their wins came in a season sweep over Morgan State (68-56 on Feb. 11 and 58-57 on Feb. 25) along with a home victory over Howard (78-65 on Feb. 4). UMES is led by fourth year head coach Frankie Allen who is 30-75 during his tenure in Princess Anne, Md. He’s 253-368 in 22 seasons of coaching collegiate basketball. Allen has been a head coach at Howard (2000-05), Tennessee State University (1991-2000), and Virginia Tech (1987-1991). At TSU he won three Ohio Valley Conference regular season titles (1993, 1994, 1995), and two OVC Tournaments (1993, 1994). As a team the Hawks are dead last in scoring offense averaging 60.1 points a game and finished the regular season eighth in scoring defense allowing 70.7 points per contest. UMES finished the conference season also at the bottom of the league at 27.7 percent from three-point range, but held opponents to just 31.9 percent from the outside to finish fourth in the league. The Hawks have two players in the league’s top-30 in terms of scoring as Hillary Haley finished the season 22nd in the conference averaging 11.0 points a game, while his teammate Percy Woods was 27th averaging 10.7 points per game. Forward Tyler Hines was ninth in the MEAC averaging 7.1 rebounds per game, while he was eighth in field goal percentage shooting 51.3 percent from the field. UMES also sports two guards in the top-11 in assists as Woods averages 3.2 helpers per game, while Ishaq Pitt is 11th finishing the season with 10 less assists in only 26 games played.

UP NEXT
If the Eagles are victorious over UMES, NCCU will advance to the quarterfinals of the 2012 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament against the winner of the #4 Bethune-Cookman versus #13 South Carolina State matchup on Thursday night, March 8 at 8:00 p.m. The winner of that contest will face the winner of the #1 Savannah State against #8 Hampton vs. #9 Morgan State winner matchup on Friday, March 9 at 6:00 p.m. As soon as NCCU loses it will be the end of the 2011-12 season.
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