ATLANTA, Ga. – After a strong first half, the North Carolina Central University men's basketball team fell to Georgia State University 93-79 at the GSU Convocation Center on Friday evening. Four Eagles finished in double figures.
NC Central (1-6) got going early clicking on all cylinders as seniors Keishon Porter and Timmy Adedire knocked down threes and junior guard Po'Boigh King went on a 7-0 run by himself. NCCU capitalized off GSU's turnovers as the Panthers couldn't easily break the Eagles' press.
The Maroon and Gray had a 21-11 advantage at the 12-minute media timeout. The lead stretched to 27-12 for the largest of the night for the Eagles.
The Panthers began to chip away at the score eventually closing in to single digits. The trio of Nick McMullen, Zarique Nutter and Toneari Lane carried the scoring load for GSU to close the first half.
NCCU led for 16:03 in the first half and was up 38-37 with under two minutes remaining.
The Eagles went into the half down 43-38 after a 16-0 run from the Panthers on 68 percent shooting from the field. King had 13 points and junior guard Dionte Johnson dished out six assists in the first 20 minutes.
Looking to regain the lead, NC Central opened the second half on a 9-4 run thanks to buckets from Porter, Johnson and King forcing Georgia State to call a timeout before the 16-minute media break at a score of 51-47, advantage GSU.
That was the closest the Eagles would come to the lead. Seniors Floyd Rideau Jr. and Isaac Parson would get going for NC Central as well helping cut the lead to single digits several times.
The Eagles eventually fell 93-79 on the road as the Panthers finished shooting 70 percent (33-of-47) from the field and 53 percent from beyond the arc. GSU came into the game as the 18th-best rebounding team in the nation at a 44.75 average but NCCU held them to 32 rebounds. Nutter, Lane and Malachi Brown all finished over twenty points for Georgia State.
Porter, Smith Jr., King and Rideau Jr. finished with 13, 10, 19 and 13 points, respectively. Porter grabbed a team-high six rebounds and Johnson had eight assists.
The Eagles turn their attention to a three-game homestand beginning with Carolina University on Monday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. in McDougald-McLendon Arena.
For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com, or download the NCCU Eagles Athletics app.
