DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University men's basketball team suffered its first home loss since Dec. 2 with Monday's 79-72 defeat against Morgan State University in overtime. Sophomore Perry Smith Jr. earned his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and junior Keishon Porter stayed hot with 17 points to lead all Eagles.
Senior Fred Cleveland Jr. scored the first point of the game for NC Central, cashing in on a free throw in just under two minutes of action. Cleveland and Porter were hot from beyond the arc, both going 2-of-2 from three in the first half.
NCCU (13-9, 5-2 MEAC) matched up evenly in the first 20 minutes. NC Central led 10-7 in bench points while MSU had a four-point advantage in the paint. The Eagles had a 10-point lead with 2:50 remaining before Morgan State went on an 8-1 scoring run heading into halftime.
At the half, Porter led all scorers with 13 points as the Eagles were ahead 34-31. Smith collected eight rebounds helping the Eagles with a 23-21 rebounding advantage. NCCU didn't have any turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play and held the lead for most of the half.
Morgan State (8-15, 4-3 MEAC) quickly tied up the ball game to start the second half 36-36 at the 18:37 mark. The score see-sawed back and forth the rest of the way with the Bears taking the lead twice before the final media timeout.
Smith slammed home a dunk to regain the lead for NCCU 61-59 out of the timeout. MSU's Allen Udemadu tied the game back up with an offensive board and put back. Down two with less than two minutes remaining, a floater by junior Devin Gordon tied the game 63-63 before making another jumper to regain the lead 65-63.
A two-point bucket from Morgan State's Amahrie Simpkins would force overtime with 37 seconds remaining in regulation. Redshirt senior Ja'Darius Harris' shot was blocked with 20 seconds left as the crowd at McDougald-McLendon Arena was granted five more minutes of basketball tied 65-65.
After taking a three-point lead in overtime with an Emmanuel Izunabor free throw and a fast break bucket by Porter, the Bears went on a 6-1 run before a layup by Cleveland tied the ball game for the final time, 71-71.
MSU's Kamron Hobbs and Will Thomas hit two three-pointers back-to-back and a pair of free throws from Rob Lawson would ice the game with 16 seconds remaining. A technical foul by the Morgan State bench at the end of the game would give the Eagles another shot at points as Harris made one ending the game with MSU winning 79-72.
NC Central remains in a tie for first place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference standings as Norfolk State University also dropped its contest 69-60 at Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday.
The Eagles will not be back in action until next weekend when they travel to Washington, D.C. on Feb. 17 to face Howard University.
For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com, or download the NCCU Eagles Athletics app.
