GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina Central played a tight first half with North Carolina A&T, but three pointers from the Aggies in the second half provided separation as the home squad came away with a 74-52 win at the Corbett Center on Thursday, March 7.
 
NCCU (15-15, 10-6 MEAC) missed their first seven shots from the floor but were eventually able to hit the mark and get going after Zacarry Douglas (Landover, Md.) made the Eagles' first field goal on a three-pointer after six minutes of play.
 
Douglas fired the Eagles ahead with his second triple of the game as the Eagles went on an 8-0 run to take a 20-19 lead, but NCAT (18-12, 13-3 MEAC) quickly regained the lead on a layup to go back up 21-20.  Both teams went back and forth down the tail end of the first period, but the Aggies were able to close the first 20 minutes with a four-point lead, 31-21.
 
Amari Hamilton (Durham, N.C.) stole the show in the second half as he hit three treys on his way to a game-high 19 points to propel the Aggies to a 74-52 win.
 
Douglas finished with a big double-double of 10 points and 15 rebounds, and Jibri Blount (Pittsburgh, Pa.) finished with a team-high 14 points.  Raasean Davis (Chicago, Ill.) also reached double-digits with 12 points for the Eagles.
 
Behind Hamilton's 19, Kameron Langley (Greensboro, N.C.) posted 17 points, and Qua Copeland (Greenville, S.C.) contributed 12 points with six boards.  Milik Gantz (Harrisburg, Pa.) also collected 12 points for the Aggies.
 
The Eagles will next compete on Thursday, March 7 in the MEAC Tournament as the third seed.  They will face either the six-seed or the 11-seed at 6:00 p.m. at Scope Arena in the quarterfinal round.