Box Score COLLEGE PARK, MD. – Trailing by eight at the end of the first half, North Carolina Central University could not find the shooting touch on Tuesday afternoon against Maryland in their worst shooting performance of the year as the Terrapins outlasted the Eagles 70-56 in front of 9,554 fans inside the Comcast Center in the final game of 2013.

NCCU shot a meager 18-for-55 (32.7 percent) from-the-field on the day and went just 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) from deep in their second straight loss to end the month of December.  The previous low took place in the season opener against Cincinnati where the Eagles shot 19-for-48 (39.6 percent) 3-for-14 (21.4 percent) from three-point range on Nov. 8.

It took a little over three minutes to put points on the board for either team in a tight-knight first half that saw the maroon and gray gain the lead on the ACC's Terrapins on three occasions, Maryland took an 8-4 lead with 14:27 left on a bank-in three pointer by Dez Wells as the shot clock was winding down.

Senior Reggie Groves (Raleigh, N.C.) followed that up with the shot from beyond-the-arc to make it 8-7 with 13:55 left.
Five minutes later Jeremy Ingram's (Charlotte, N.C.) jumper with 8:02 left put the Eagles up 16-14, but the Terps answered with seven straight points to stretch the lead back out to five at 21-16.

With 3:15 to go, Jordan Parks (Queens, N.Y.) pair of free throws made it 22-20 in favor of Maryland, and the Eagles managed to go scoreless down-the-stretch as the Terps took a 28-20 advantage into the locker room.

NCCU forced 11 Maryland turnovers in the first frame thanks to six combined steals, two of which came from senior point Emanuel Chapman (Raleigh, N.C.) who passed Jimmie Walker (1992-94) for eighth all-time in career steals.

After a Chapman original three-point play to make it 28-23 with 18:33 left, the Terps came out firing from deep hitting 3 of the next 4 three-pointers to push the margin to double figures for the first time on the day as Nick Faust knocked down one of his three treys to make it 37-26 with 16:47 remaining.

A 9-4 run by Maryland put the Terps up 46-30 giving the hosts their largest lead of the day and Mark Turgeon's squad cruised from that point on as the Eagle offensive attack simply did not find the mark.

The Terrapins led by as many as 20 points in the game, but head coach LeVelle Moton's squad continued to battle finishing the game strong to cut the margin to its final resting place at 14 as the Eagles ended 2013 with a 70-56 defeat.
Ingram, the third leading scorer in the nation, had a hand in his face all day long as he struggled from the field going 4-for-19, shooting 0-for-6 from the perimeter, but still lead the maroon and gray with 11 points.

Parks was the only other Eagle in double figures as he finished with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting, to record more than 10 points for the fifth time this season. Redshirt junior Jay Copeland (Suffolk, Va.) finished the night with 7 points and 7 rebounds.

Maryland native Dante Holmes (Baltimore, Md.) made his NCCU debut scoring nine points on 2-of-4 shooting that included his first three-pointer as an Eagle.

With his eight assists Chapman becomes the first Eagle to record more than 480 helpers in a career as he now sits with 482.

For the Terrapins, Faust tied a career-high with 19 points and nine rebounds, tying his previous mark against Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament on March 8, 2012.

Maryland (9-5) went 8-for-19 (42.1 percent) from deep and was a season-high 18-for-22 from the foul line in the win.
The maroon and gray may be ending 2013 with a loss, but from Jan. 2 till now the program went 23-6, an unprecedented run of success for the young NCAA Division I program.  

NCCU (7-4) looks to begin 2014 on a high note as the Eagles make the trek up to Staten Island, N.Y. for their third matchup in the last three years against the Seahawks of Wagner College.  Tipoff from the Spiro Sports Center is set for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4.  

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