UP NEXT
If the Eagles are victorious over Bethune-Cookman, NCCU will advance to the semifinals of the 2012 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament against the winner of the No. 1 seeded Tigers of Savannah State against ninth seeded Pirates of Hampton University on Friday, March 9 at 6:00 p.m. The winner of that contest will face the winner of the other semifinal in Saturday’s MEAC Championship game at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN2.

LAST TIME OUT: #5-NCCU-60 #12-UMES-43 (MAR. 6, 2012)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (NCCUEaglePride.com) – The fifth-seeded Eagles of North Carolina Central University used another strong defensive effort, along with a 14-2 second half run to pull away from the No. 12 seeded Hawks of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to advance to the quarterfinal round of the 2012 Mid-Eastern Conference Tournament with a 60-43 win on Tuesday afternoon inside the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C. Both teams came out with the jitters as UMES led 10-5 with 12:45 to go in the first frame, but once again Jeremy Ingram (Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench and provided the spark for the maroon and gray scoring six straight points to give NCCU its first lead of the day at 11-10 with 12:05 to go. Maryland Eastern Shore continued to battle in the first half taking the lead back at 16-15 following a Gregory Womack three-pointer, but senior point guard Justin Leemow (Brooklyn, N.Y.) answered with a layup to give the Eagles a 17-16 lead with 7:28 left. On the next NCCU possession senior Nick Chasten (Raleigh, N.C.) drilled a three-pointer to put NCCU up 20-16 with 6:16 left. The maroon and gray finished off the 9-0 run to pull ahead by 8 at 24-16 and would take a 29-26 lead into the locker room. In the second stanza, head coach LeVelle Moton’s squad made their best move of the day as the Eagles stretched a three-point halftime lead to 15 with a 14-2 spurt that included two shots from the outside from Leemow, and one from Tramar Beaman (Williamstown, N.J.) to put NCCU up 43-30 with 14:11 left in the game. The rest of the way, the Hawks managed to bring the deficit into to single digits only one more time as NCCU imposed its will on UMES, leading by as much as 20 with 4:46 to go after a Dominique Sutton (Durham, N.C.) layup. The maroon and gray went on to win the game 60-43 earning win no. 17 of the season tying for the most wins in a season at NCCU since the 1999-2000 campaign when former head coach Greg Jackson led the Eagles to a 17-9 record in his final season at the helm. NCCU was aided by three double-digit performers in the first round victory as Sutton led the Eagles with 13 points, five rebounds, and three steals on 2-for-7 shooting, but excelled at the foul line going 9-for-11. Junior Ebuka Anyaorah recorded double figures for the first time in 11 games contributing 11 points, four rebounds, two steals, and one ferocious block that ended up in the fifth row of the coliseum. Leemow was two-for-three from the outside in the win for the Eagles, finishing with 10 points, three assists in 19 minutes of action. The victory is the first conference tournament victory of any type since Feb. 28, 2007 when NCCU beat Saint Paul’s in the CIAA Tournament under former head coach Henry Dickerson. The Eagles will take on the No. 4 seed Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman University on Thursday night, March 8 at 8:00 in quarterfinal round action of the 2012 MEAC Men’s Basketball Tournament.

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.

CHASTEN JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB
Senior Nick Chasten (Raleigh, N.C.) scored eight points at South Carolina State on Feb. 27 to become the 34th Eagle in the 77 year history of the NCCU basketball program to score 1,000 points during their career. Chasten is the second such player under the tutelage of head coach LeVelle Moton to join that club with C.J. Wilkerson scoring 1,023 points during his two-year Eagle career. The Oxford, N.C. native is 29th on the school’s all-time scoring list. Chasten has 1,010 career points and needs 9 points to move into the top-30 in school history tying John Keels (1954-58) who compiled 1,019 points at NCCU.

DOMINIQUE’S DUNK METER
After transferring to NCCU from Kansas State, it was very obvious that senior forward Dominique Sutton’s extreme athleticism was going to add excitement to any NCCU men’s basketball contests, but basketball goals everywhere be afraid. The 6-5, 212 pound forward has 72 dunks in 31 ballgames including seven against Johnson and Wales. In fact he finished the Nov. 13th contest 8-8 from the field and only one field goal was not a dunk. After 31 games Sutton is 179-for-306 from the field (58.5 percent) on the season.

EMANUEL CHAPMAN GIVES A HELPER HAND
After 31 games sophomore Emanuel Chapman has amassed 158 assists to average 4.8 helpers per game to sit second in the MEAC. He has recorded the most assists in a season since James Tucker dished out 156 helpers in the 2003-04 campaign. In his two-year career "Poobie" has compiled 216 assists to place him 15th all-time at NCCU, passing Shawn Ray (2000-03) who recorded 215 dimes in his Eagle career. Chapman is eight away from 14th all-time. Taro Knight (1990-93) dished out 223 assists for the maroon and gray. Since 1977-78, the most assists in a season belongs to Donald Sinclair who amassed 200 during the 1979-80 campaign. Sinclair (1979-81) is currently third in school history with 360 assists. Head coach LeVelle Moton racked up 278 helpers during his stellar playing career and is currently sixth all-time. Michael Wright (1980-81/82-85) owns the career record for assists with 409.