Farmville, Va. – The North Carolina Central University men's basketball program was within two points in the final five minutes, but Longwood University pulled away to defeat the Eagles 73-66 on Saturday.

Fred Cleveland Jr., Po'Boigh King, and Ja'Darius Harris were the double-figure scorers for NCCU. Cleveland was 50 percent from the field to finish with 14, while King added 16 points. Harris tallied 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting. The trio as well as Emmanuel Izunabor were perfect from the free-throw line.

Down 12 points at the half on 6-of-24 shooting, NCCU picked it up to begin the second half. The Eagles outscored the Lancers 48 to 43 in the last 20 minutes of play.

It was also a tale of two halves for North Carolina Central's shooting beyond the arc. After only making one three-pointer in the first, NCCU knocked down five threes in the second. Devin Gordon was 2-of-3 in three-point field goals.

A jumper from Harris at the 4:46 mark of the second half closed the gap to 60-58 with Longwood leading into the final media timeout. The fouls began to pile up for the Eagles as the Lancers took advantage, making 18-23 from the charity stripe in the second half.

North Carolina Central will have the rare chance of playing a non-conference team twice in the same season as they host Longwood in the final men's basketball game of 2023 on Dec. 20.

The Eagles look ahead to the next set of games on Nov. 20-21 as they face Campbell University and The Citadel in an event hosted by Campbell in Buies Creek, N.C.

For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com, or download the NCCU Eagles Athletics app.