ORANGEBURG, S.C. – The North Carolina Central University men's basketball team suffered its first loss in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play. The Eagles fell 71-68 at South Carolina State University on Saturday ending a six-game winning streak.

Redshirt senior Ja'Darius Harris and sophomore Po'Boigh King finished with a game-high 19 points. Harris only missed two field goal attempts (7-of-9) and grabbed five rebounds. King was perfect from the free-throw line (4-of-4) and had four rebounds.

NCCU went back and forth with SCSU in a very close game throughout. There were 10 lead changes and six ties. The Eagles went into the half with a three-point lead with a score of 36-33. King led NCCU with 10 points in the first 20 minutes.

The Eagles' largest lead came with under eight minutes remaining in the second half at 61-47. South Carolina State responded by going on a 20-6 run to tie the game up for the final time at 67-67 with 2:48 remaining. The last four points for the Bulldogs came from the free-throw line as they closed out the game.

NC Central (10-8, 2-1 MEAC) held SCSU to 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. NCCU had nine fewer field goal attempts (23-of-48) than the Bulldogs (25-of-57). The Eagles had a season-high of 17 turnovers and South Carolina State converted them into 22 points.

South Carolina State (5-14, 1-2 MEAC) is third in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (15.78), but the Eagles held SCSU under its average at 12 offensive rebounds and grabbed one more total rebound than the Bulldogs. South Carolina State scored 54 bench points with Michael Teal leading his team off the bench with 17 points.

NCCU plays on the road again next Saturday, Jan. 27 at Maryland Eastern Shore for a 4 p.m. contest.

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