DURHAM, N.C. — Senior Gabriel Cucalon and freshman Amit Baran won their singles matches for host North Carolina Central University in a tough 5-2 loss to Morgan State University in men's tennis action Monday at the NCCU Tennis Courts.
 
The preseason favorites in the Northern Division picked up their fourth straight win as Morgan State improved to 6-4 on the season.
 
NC Central (1-8) was playing a fellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) member institution for the first time this season, but the match did not count in the league standings being the Eagles are in the Southern Division.  
 
Morgan State took the initial 1-nil lead with 6-3 and 6-4 doubles wins on courts one and two, respectively. The No. 3 NCCU doubles team of Baran and junior Pablo Juez Torres were leading their match 6-5 when doubles play was stopped after the team point was decided.
 
Cucalon leveled the match with his straight set win. He topped sophomore Serhii Kharchev in the top tier singles match by a 6-1, 6-4 margin.
 
Cucalon (5-3) has won five straight singles matches.
 
Baran got into the win column for the second straight time in four days with his most impressive win of his rookie season yet. He toppled senior Arjun Ramakrishnan by a score of 6-3, 6-4 to give him a win against a 2018 All-MEAC honoree.
 
MSU junior No. 3 Nahit Rawal was able to knot the score for a second time with a 6-4, 6-3 win. Sophomore No. 5 Sebastian Lopez followed 6-2, 6-1 to put the visitors ahead for good while classmate No. 6 Shrey Gupta clinched the match for the Bears with is 7-5, 6-3 triumph. Sophomore Oguzhan Ceylan capped the day by outlasting NCCU freshman Thanos Spyropoulos by a slim 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 margin.
 
NC Central will next begin MEAC Southern Division play with neutral-site matches against Florida A&M University (Saturday, 5 PM) and Bethune-Cookman University (Sunday, 12 PM) at Bacon Park Tennis Club in Savannah, Georgia, this coming weekend.