Box Score DURHAM, N.C. – A sluggish start from North Carolina Central University did nothing to derail the MEAC's (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) hottest team as the Eagles forced South Carolina State into 21 turnovers on the way to a 67-53 victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday night inside Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center in Orangeburg, S.C.
 
NCCU started the game slow on the offensive side of the floor going 3-for-17 (17.6 percent) and trailed by as much as five through the opening minutes of the game.
 
SC State led 14-9 following a Theron Stephen's layup with 11:23 left in the first frame and the maroon and gray awoke, going on a 13-0 run over the next six minutes that gave  the Eagles a 22-14 lead, and NCCU never looked back taking a 30-22 advantage into the locker room.
 
During the big first half run, four different Eagles scored, led by Jeremy Ingram's (Charlotte, N.C.) five points to give the maroon and gray the advantage.
 
With his four first half steals, senior point guard Emanuel Chapman (Raleigh, N.C.) moved to fourth all-time at NCCU as he now has 159 thefts in his career.
 
The second half the host Bulldogs tried to rally in the second half, but the Eagle offense picked it up and managed to stretch the lead out to as much as 22 points as sophomore Dante Holmes (Baltimore, Md.) drilled a three-pointer that gave the maroon and gray a 61-39 lead with  5:42 left.
 
SCSU scored the game's final eight points to put the margin at its final resting place as NCCU made it seven-in-a-row over the Bulldogs, winning the game 67-53.
 
Ingram led all scorers with a game-high 22 points on 7-for-19 shooting, but was perfect from the foul line going 5-for-5.  He's now No. 17 all-time at NCCU with 1,267 career points.
 
Junior Jordan Parks (Queens, N.Y.) scored a very efficient 16 points (7-for-9 from-the field) and grabbed a team-high eight boards in the win, while SCSU's (8-16, 4-7 MEAC) Stephens was the lone double figure scorer for the Bulldogs in the loss.
 
The Eagles were one forced turnover away from tying the season-high as the maroon and gray caused 21 against SC State and converted those miscues to 33 points, while the Bulldogs managed just four points on eight miscues by the maroon and gray.
 
 
With the Hampton victory over Norfolk State on Saturday night, the Eagles are now two games ahead of the Pirates and Spartans in the league standings as the regular season heads down the backstretch.
 
NCCU (19-5, 10-1 MEAC) looks to make it 12-in-a-row on Monday night as the Eagles take on Savanna State at 8:00 p.m. from Tiger Arena, a place the maroon and gray have yet to win since moving up into the NCAA Division I Level.
 
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