Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. -  It was an offensive struggle inside the confines of McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium but the Eagles of North Carolina Central University prevailed en route to an 51-43 victory over the Rattlers of Florida A&M University on Saturday afternoon.
 
Both teams struggled early on as both teams remained scoreless two minutes into the ball game. The Rattlers ended the scoring drought with a Jomari Bradshaw layup.  In fact, FAMU scored the first four points of the game forcing NCCU head coach LeVelle Moton to call a timeout to re-organize his troops.
 
The Eagles shot an abysmal 0-6 through the first three minutes of the half, taking three minutes to score their first points on a Jeremy Ingram (Charlotte, N.C.) free-throw with 17:11 to go, making it 4-1.
 
NCCU quickly shifted the momentum, taking its first lead of the game on a Stanton Kidd (Baltimore, Md.) alley-oop from Emanuel Chapman (Raleigh, N.C.) to grab a 9-7 lead.

The ninth meeting between these two squads went back-and-forth with four times and seven lead changes through the first frame.
 
With two minutes remaining, Antonin Galaya (St. Martin, French West Indies) provided a spark breaking open an 18-18 contest with five quick points that included a crucial steal, pushing the maroon and gray ahead 23-18 heading into the locker room.
 
The 23 first half points for the Eagles was the second fewest points in a half this season.
 
To begin the second stanza, NCCU added some cushion with free throws from Ray Willis
(Atlanta, Ga.) and Jay Copeland (Suffolk, Va.) to extend the Eagle lead to 26-18 with 17:46 left.
 
The Rattlers simply would not go away following a Jamari Bradshaw three-pointer to help FAMU take their first lead of the second half at 31-30, their first since the 10:54 mark of the first frame.
 
NCCU answered, as Kidd sent the crowd into an uproar with another huge dunk to snatch the lead back at 32-31.
 
The Rattlers struck back with 5-0 spurt to knot the game up at 36-36 with 6:26 left, but the maroon and gray turned the intensity up with an 8-0 run highlighted Kidd’s only three-pointer of the night from the top of the key to take a 44-36 lead with 3:53 remaining.
 
The Eagles hit clutch free throws down-the-stretch and never looked back squeaking out the 51-43 victory.
 
Defense keyed the Eagles in this one as Florida A&M shot just 28.6 percent from the field, while the maroon and gray shot 33.3 percent from the field (15-for-45), its worst performance since shooting 22.6 percent in a 38-36 loss to Wagner on Nov. 24.
 
Ingram led all scorers with 18 points and tied a season-high with seven rebounds while going 9-for-11 from the charity stripe.  Kidd chipped-in 15 points and five rebounds.
 
Chapman ended the night with nine helpers, giving him 362 career assists which places him third all-time at NCCU on the career assists list.  He needs just four more to tie former Eagle Bryan Ayala (2005-09) for second all-time at 366.
 
FAMU (6-17, 3-6 MEAC) had two student-athletes in double figures led by Muhammad Abdul-Aleem’s 13 points, while Jamari Bradshaw ended up with 11 points in the loss.  
 
NCCU (16-7, 9-0 MEAC) looks to extend its winning streak to 11 games as they look for the season sweep over the Wildcats of Bethune Cookman University on Monday night inside McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
Stay up-to-date with North Carolina Central University Athletics by flying over to www.NCCUEaglePride.com, the official website of NCCU Athletics.