DURHAM, N.C. – Dante Holmes (Baltimore, Md.) hit a big three-pointer in the closing moments to give North Carolina Central University a one point lead, but Hampton University had the final word as the Eagles were defeated 80-79 on Monday, Jan. 18 at McDougald-McLendon Arena.

Quinton Chievous (Chicago, Ill.) received the pass in the paint and worked against his defender to lay the ball in for the winning score with less than two seconds remaining.

NCCU (7-13, 2-4 MEAC) got off to a sluggish start in the first half and were outscored 45-37 at the intermission.  Patrick Cole (Newark, N.J.) helped the Eagles along with 15 points in the first 20 minutes, going toe-to-toe with Reginald Johnson, Jr. (Chicago, Ill.) of Hampton (10-7, 6-0 MEAC) who contributed 19 points.  Both players made six free throws in six attempts.

Johnson finished with a team-high 27 points and tied for the game-high with seven assists, along with seven rebounds.

Down by as many as 14 in the first half, the Eagles rattled off a 7-0 run at the tail end of the period, and that would motivate the home team in the second frame.

NCCU as a team shot 60 percent from the floor after the break and pressed into the lead 52-51 five minutes into the second half by way of a 13-2 run.  In fact, the Eagles strung together a 21-7 run over nine minutes of play that resulted in NCCU's largest margin of the night at seven points with a 65-58 advantage with eight minutes remaining.

That run was punctuated by an electrifying back-to-back buckets from Kyle Benton (Long Beach, Calif.) who rose for a slam over a defender, and followed that with an and-one opportunity off of a steal that he forced in the backcourt.  Benton picked up all of his eight second-half points during the run, and finished with nine points and six rebounds.

Cole notched 13 points after the break to total his game-high 28 points, and collected a team-high six rebounds.  Dajuan Graf (Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench for six points and seven assists.

NCCU will head to the northern reaches of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference this weekend as the Eagles visit Delaware State on Saturday, Jan. 23.

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