Box Score
AUDIO:  NCCU's LeVelle Moton Postgame Comments (Savannah State)


 
SAVANNAH, Ga. – Trailing by eight at the half, the North Carolina Central University men’s basketball team tried to mount a rally in the second frame, but the defending regular season MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) champion Tigers of Savannah State University used solid defense and clutch shooting down the stretch to end the Eagles 11-game winning streak in a 44-36 decision on Saturday evening from Tiger Arena in Savannah, Ga.
 
In meeting No. 13 between these two programs, it was apparent from the get-go that this was going to be a defensive slug fest and the Eagles found themselves with three starters with two fouls in the first frame that include junior Stanton Kidd (Baltimore, Md.) who registered his second foul with 12:41 to go in the first frame.
 
Savannah State jumped out to a 10-4 lead with 15:14 remaining in the first half and the score remained that way over the next five minutes until the Tigers Patrick Hendley drilled a long jumper to put SSU in front 12-4 with 10:18 left.
 
The Eagles responded by scoring the next six points as junior Jeremy Ingram (Charlotte, N.C.) scored five straight points to cut the margin to two at 12-10 with 7:13 left.
 
Savannah State went on to throw the next punch, ended the half on a 12-6 spurt taking a 24-16 lead into the locker room.
 
Through the first 20 minutes, NCCU shot just 7-for-25 (28.0 percent) from the field, shooting only two free throws and allowing SSU to score 11 points off of nine Eagle turnovers.
 
In the second frame, the Tigers turned up the pressure and extended the lead to as high as 15 points at 35-20 with 14:04 left.
 
That’s when the resilient maroon and gray made their charge as the Eagles went on a 9-0 to cut the deficit to six at 35-29 after a Ray Willis (Atlanta, Ga.) scored four straight points.
 
After an SSU made free throw to put the margin back to seven, Jay Copeland (Suffolk, Va.) hit one-of-two free throws to make it 36-30, but the Tigers All-MEAC forward Rashad Hassan made a huge layup with 6:47 to go to make 38-30.
 
NCCU did not go away easy continuing to fight and scratch cutting the deficit to four at 38-34 with 4:14 to go, but Williams added another layup to push the lead back to six at 40-34 just eight seconds later.
 
A couple of Ingram free throws on two trips to the line found the maroon and gray back to a four point margin with 2:05 to go, and Williams drilled his second and final three-pointer to put the dagger on the Eagles and stretch the lead back to seven at 43-36 with 1:30 to go.
 
SSU held on for the 44-36 win to give NCCU its first conference loss of the year, ending an 11-game winning streak.  The Eagles have never won inside Tiger Arena since moving to the NCAA Division I Level.
 
Ingram led the maroon and gray with 15 points despite the 4-for-11 shooting effort, including a 1-for-5 mark from behind-the-arc.  Willis was held to 2-of-11 shooting scoring six points in the loss.
 
Savannah State (15-10, 9-2 MEAC) was led by William’s 12 points as he was the lone Tiger to record double figures as nine different student-athletes scored in the victory.
 
NCCU (17-8, 10-1 MEAC) looks to recover from its first loss in 2013 as they head up to Orangeburg, S.C. to battle the Bulldogs of South Carolina State in a Monday night MEAC showdown from the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 18.
 
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