DURHAM, N.C. — Junior Gabriel Cucalon and sophomore Theofanis Kontopoulos once again won atop the Eagles lineup, but visiting UC Riverside won the other four singles matches to rally for a 4-3 win over host North Carolina Central University on Friday afternoon.
 
The Highlanders finish a five-day trip to the East Coast going 5-1 over that span to improve to 14-12 on the season. NCCU drops to 2-12.
 
NCCU jumped ahead 1-0 after winning doubles. Kontopoulos partnered with sophomore Maksym Konovalov for a dominating 6-1 win before fellow sophomores Pablo Juez Torres and Brooks Campbell clinched the point with an 8-6 tiebreaker win on the third court to win 7-6. The last doubles match also came down to a tiebreaker that UCR's junior Kyle McCann and freshman Filip Engstrom were able to win over Cucalon and junior Sebastian Bromley, 7-4, for the 7-6 triumph.
 
Kontopoulos (8-5) and Cucalon (7-6) continued their strong play winning for a sixth and fifth straight time, respectively. Kontopoulos gutted out a 7-5, 7-6 (4) win over freshman Pawal Jankowiak while Cucalon topped freshman Benjamin Kichherr by a 7-5, 6-3 margin.
 
Straight-set wins by McCann, Engstrom and freshman Vignesh Subramanyan were the spark to the Highlanders comeback.
 
The team battle came down to No. 4 singles where sophomore Nabil Abdallah outlasted Konovalov. After Abdallah dropped the first set he was able to rally for the 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 win.
 
NCCU next visits Longwood University on Friday at 2 p.m.