DURHAM, N.C. – Senior guard Dajuan Graf (Charlotte, N.C.) took his turn to lead North Carolina Central University as he put in a career-high 21 points to lift the Eagles to a 70-59 win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, Dec. 5.

NCCU (2-4, 1-0 MEAC) jumped in front early with an 8-1 lead and led wire-to-wire, but it wasn't easy the entire way.  UMES (1-6, 0-1 MEAC) found itself down by 12 with 8:29 to play in the first half with the score 23-11, but then the Hawks posted a 10-2 run over three minutes to pull within four at 25-21 with 5:03 to go.  During that run, Dontae Caldwell (Santa Ana, Calif.) scored eight of those 10 points.

The Eagles responded with an 11-2 run to close the half leading 36-23 at the midway point.  NCCU expanded that into a 15-2 run after scoring the first two buckets of the second half capped by a double-clutch jam in transition by Jamal Ferguson (Norfolk, Va.).  That dunk put NCCU up by its largest margin of 17 points at 40-23.

UMES tried to steadily work its way back into the contest, but they were kept at bay by NCCU and Graf, who scored 15 of his 21 in the second 20 minutes of action.  The Hawks did put together a 9-2 run late in the game to trim the deficit to seven at 60-53, but that's the closest that they would get. 

Sparking that run for UMES was Devin Martin (Baltimore, Md.) who scored seven of the nine points, and put in 19 of his game-high 25 points during the second frame.

With the win, NCCU extends its home win streak to 38 games, and have now won 32 regular-season conference games in a row; including 17 consecutive at McDougald-McLendon Arena.  The Eagles will put those streaks on the line as they host Howard on Monday, Dec. 7.

For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com.