NCCU at Delaware State
The 30th meeting between NCCU and Delaware State is sure to be an exciting one from Dover on Saturday

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

NCCU MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES AT DELAWARE STATE (FEB. 2, 2013)

Eagles hit the road for another crucial MEAC road swing


NCCU at Delaware State Game Notes (PDF)

NCCU Sports Network Broadcast Link (GameCentral)

THE GAME
Entering the month of February, the Eagles of North Carolina Central University sit 6-0 in the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) following the 69-61 victory over Morgan State on Monday, and face the daunting task of taking on Delaware State who is 4-1 in league play on the road inside Memorial Hall. The Hornets like NCCU are in the thick of the MEAC race sitting just a game behind in the loss column.

THE SERIES
NCCU and Delaware State have met 29 previous times on the hardwood with the Eagles holding a 16-13 advantage, but the Hornets have won the last two meetings since the maroon and gray moved to the NCAA Division I level including last year’s 76-70 victory over NCCU on Jan. 28, 2012 in Durham, N.C. The Eagles are 274-261 against MEAC foes.

NCCU SPORTS NETWORK
Play-by-play voice of the NCCU Sports Network Chris Hooks will bring wall-to-wall coverage of Saturday's MEAC twinbill from Memorial Hall in Dover, Del. beginning at 1:45 p.m. with the Champps Pregame Show.  Fans can also interact with Hooks by sending a tweet to @NCCUAthletics on twitter or by sending an e-mail to nccusn@nccu.edu.

DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY "HORNETS
Delaware State University enters this weekend’s crucial tilt with a 9-10 mark overall, 4-1 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play. The lone loss in league action for the Hornets came on Jan. 19 in the MEAC opener against Maryland Eastern Shore as the Hawks stung the Hornets 58-53 at home, but since then DSU has won three straight and has placed themselves right in the thick of the conference race. Delaware State was picked second in the MEAC in the preseason by the league’s coaches and sports information directors, and boasted three student-athletes (Tahj Tate-1st, Marques Oliver-2nd, and Casey Walker-2nd) on the Preseason All-MEAC teams. As a team, DSU is ninth in the league in scoring offense at 61.5 points while sitting fifth in the league in scoring defense allowing 65.3 points a game. The Hornets are second in the MEAC in free throw percentage shooting 69.8 percent as a team, but DSU is No. 1 in the league in blocked shots averaging 5.9 swats per game as a team. Individually, Tate leads the squad and is sixth in the league averaging 14.3 points per game, as he is the lone Hornet in the top-30 in the conference in that category. Marques Oliver tops DSU grabbing 5.6 rebounds per game, but 6-10 center Kendall Gray leads the conference in blocked shots averaging 3.0 per game with 45 on the season. Fellow forward Oliver is seventh with 34 on the year averaging 1.9 swats a game. The Hornets are led by former NCCU head coach Greg Jackson who is third all-time on the sloping hills and verdant green with a mark of 164-78 winning 67.8 percent of his contest as the man of charge of the Eagle basketball program from 1991-2000. He’s amassed an overall record of 353-271 and has the Delaware State program in the thick of the MEAC race year in and year out.

UP NEXT
The maroon and gray return home for a quick two-game homestand against the MEAC foes from the Sunshine state. On Saturday, Feb. 9 the Rattlers of Florida A&M University return for a 4:00 p.m. tipoff in the friendly confines of McDougald Gym, while the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman University come to town for a Monday night, Feb. 11 showdown at 7:30 p.m. NCCU beat both Florida A&M (85-62) and Bethune-Cookman (75-66) on the road trip down to Florida nearly a month ago.

LAST TIME OUT: NCCU-69, MORGAN STATE-61 (JAN. 28, 2013)
DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University outlasted the visiting Bears of Morgan State University 69-61 in a physical battle on Monday night inside McDougald-McLendon Gym, as the Eagles extend their win streak to seven games, the program’s longest stretch of victories since the start of the 1996-97 season. NCCU (13-7) wraps up its first unblemished month since January 2000 and remains unbeaten in MEAC play at 6-0. Senior forward Ray Willis (Atlanta, Ga.) topped the Eagles with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot. He shot 5 of 8 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free-throw line. NCCU junior Stanton Kidd (Baltimore, Md.) added 13 points and a team-high seven boards, redshirt sophomore Jay Copeland (Suffolk, Va.) chipped in 10 points and four caroms, while junior Emanuel Chapman (Raleigh, N.C.) contributed nine points, four assists and three steals. With 45 combined fouls whistled, the difference in the outcome was reflected at the charity stripe. Morgan State converted only 15 of its 32 free throws (46.9 percent), while NCCU made 26 of 33 at the foul line (78.8 percent). Even with MSU’s 7-foot, 2-inch center Ian Chiles patrolling the paint, NCCU outrebounded the Bears 30-28 and the Eagles scored 14 second-chance points compared to 10 by the visitors. The first 10 minutes of the contest was a sparring match with three ties and seven lead changes. With the score knotted at 19-19, Willis nailed a three-pointer at 9:19 to start a 7-0 Eagles’ run. The Bears managed the trim the deficit to two points on two occasions, but NCCU closed the half with a 13-4 run to take a 42-31 advantage into the locker room. NCCU increased the cushion to as much as 11 points (49-38 at 14:36), but the Bears continued to battle back. After MSU narrowed the gap to three points twice, the Eagles responded by pushing the margin to 64-54 on a pair of Copeland free throws with 3:52 on the clock. The Bears made one final charge, scoring seven unanswered points to make things interesting at 64-61 with 1:34 remaining. On the following possession, NCCU answered the challenge as Willis found Kidd cutting to the basket and the 6-7 forward soared over the 7-2 center Chiles for a momentum-changing layup with 1:14 left to give the Eagles a 66-61 advantage. MSU (6-11, 3-3 MEAC) had a chance to make it a one-possession game, but Anthony Hubbard missed a pair of free throws at 1:07. After an NCCU turnover, Willis made steal while diving out of bounds, and Chapman nailed two free throws to seal the victory.

EAGLES NAVIGATE JANUARY WITHOUT ANY TIDAL WAVES
With the 69-61 win over Morgan State, NCCU accomplished a feat it hadn’t in 13 years. Entering Monday night’s contest the Eagles had won six consecutive ballgames, and the victory helped the maroon and gray finish the month of January with perfect 7-0 mark. Prior to that, NCCU had never finished an entire month with an unblemished record as a member of the NCAA’s Division I level, and the last time this feat was accomplished was in the 1999-2000 season when the Eagles won sixth straight games from Jan. 4 through Feb. 3.



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